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FOR RELEASE: 9:00 P.M. ET, MONDAY DECEMBER 3, 2001

KOREA COMPOSITE INDEXES FOR SEPTEMBER 2001

The Press Release in a PDF file
English Version     Korean Version

The Conference Board announced today that the leading index for Korea increased 0.2 percent in September, and the coincident index increased 0.4 percent.

  • The leading index increased consecutively for two months for the first time since July 2000. However, it still remains 6.2 percent below its highest value, attained in that same month. The leading index increased primarily due to large positive contributions from the inventories to shipment ratio, machinery orders and exports.
  • The coincident index, a measure of current economic activity, increased in September as a result of strength in the labor market and the industrial sector of the Korean economy.

LEADING INDICATORS. Five of the seven components that make up the leading index increased in September. The positive contributors - in order from the largest positive contributor to the smallest - are inverted index of inventories to shipments for manufacturing, value of machinery orders in manufacturing, real exports, monthly hours worked, and inverted yield of government public bonds. The negative contributors - from the larger negative contributor to the smaller- are stock prices and letter of credit arrivals in manufacturing.

With the increase of 0.2 percent in September, the leading index now stands at 110.3 (1990=100). This index increased in August 1.0 percent and decreased 0.1 percent in July. During the six-month span through September, the index decreased 0.6percent, and three of the seven components advanced (diffusion index, six-month span equals 42.9 percent).

COINCIDENT INDICATORS. All four components that make up the coincident index increased in August. The positive contributors - in order from the largest positive contributor to the smallest - are industrial production, the inverted unemployment rate, wholesale and retail sales and employment, excluding agriculture and forestry.

With the increase of 0.4 percent in September, the coincident index now stands at 113.9 (1990=100). This index increased 0.1 percent in August and decreased 0.3 percent in July. During the six-month span through September, the index increased 1.1 percent, and all four of its components advanced (diffusion index, six-month span equals 100.0 percent).

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE BOARD. Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is the premier business membership and research network. The Conference Board has become a global leader in helping executives build strong professional relationships, expand their business knowledge and find solutions to a wide range of business challenges. The Board's Economics Program, under the direction of Chief Economist Gail Fosler, is a recognized source of forecasts, economic analysis and objective indicators such as the Leading Economic Indicators and the Consumer Confidence Index.

This role is part of a long tradition of research and education that stretches back to the compilation of the first continuous measure of the cost of living in the United States in 1919. In 1995, The Conference Board assumed responsibility for computing the composite indexes from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Conference Board now produces business cycle indexes for the U.S., Australia, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, Mexico and the U.K. To subscribe to any of these indexes, please visit www.globalindicators.org, contact the Global Indicators Research Institute at 212-339-0312, or email indicators@conference-board.org.

SUMMARY TABLE OF COMPOSITE INDEXES
 20016-month
 JulyAug.Sep.Mar. - Sep.
Leading Index109.0 r110.1110.3 p 
Percent Change-0.1 r1.0 r0.2 p-0.6 p
Diffusion71.485.771.442.9
Coincident Index113.3113.4113.9 
Percent Change-0.30.10.41.1 p
Diffusion25.050.0100.0100.0

n.a. Not available
p Preliminary
r Revised

Indexes equal 100 in 1990
Source: The Conference Board


Professional Contacts at The Conference Board:
Ataman Ozyildirim: 1-212-339-0399
Michael Fort: 1-212-339-0402

Media Contacts:
Randy Poe: 1-212-339-0234
Frank Tortorici: 1-212-339-0231

For more information visit our Website: http://www.globalindicators.org

The schedule for the next release incorporating annual benchmarks for all components will be announced within two weeks.