Global News - Europe

BRUSSELS – The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Spain declined 1.6 percent in April to 102.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9 percent decline in March, and no change in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Spain, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.4 percent in April to 97.7 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent decline in March, and a 0.2 percent decline in February.

The Conference Board LEI and CEI for Spain both fell in April, and both indexes have been mostly declining in the past 12 months. In addition, the weaknesses among the components of both composite indexes have been very widespread. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the current contraction in the Spanish economy is likely to continue in the near term and could even worsen.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Spain

The composite economic indexes are the key elements in an analytic system designed to signal peaks and troughs in the business cycle. The leading and coincident economic indexes are essentially composite averages of several individual leading or coincident indicators. They are constructed to summarize and reveal common turning point patterns in economic data in a clearer and more convincing manner than any individual component – primarily because they smooth out some of the volatility of individual components.

The six components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® for Spain include:

Capital Equipment Component of Industrial Production
Contribution to Euro M2
Stock Price Index
Long term Government Bond Yield
Order Books Survey
Job Placings

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=9