The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.4 percent in August to 113.0 (2010 = 100), following a 0.4 percent increase in July, and a 0.3 percent increase in June.
At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in August to 100.7 (2010 = 100), following no change in the prior two months.
The LEI has been improving throughout this year and its six-month growth rate has improved modestly. In addition, the strengths among its components have become very widespread over the past six months. Meanwhile, the CEI has been virtually flat this year, and its six-month growth rate remains slightly positive. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes, and widespread strengths among their components, suggests that economic conditions are likely to improve and growth should pick up somewhat in the coming months.
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