Japan's key economic state index up 1.0 point in April

• Source: Xinhua
• [15:40 June 09 2009]
• Comments

Japan's composite index (CI) of coincident economic indicators went up 1.0 point in April from a month earlier, said the cabinet office in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

The key gauge of the nation's current economic state for April read 85.8, compared with 100 for the base year of 2005, said the report.

The index of leading indicators, which predicts future developments over next several months, rose 1.0 point to 76.5 while that of lagging indicators, which measures economic performance in the recent past shed 1.4 points to 86.1.

The CI consists of a wide range of indicators such as industrial production, large-lot electricity use, overtime work hours at manufacturers, wholesale and retail sales, and the ratio of job offers to job seekers.