The Conference Board Leading Economic Index(LEI) for Japan declined 2.1 percent in April to 94.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.7 percent decline in March, and a 0.8 percent increase in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index(CEI) for Japan, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.3 percent in April to 96.9 (2004 = 100), following a 2.4 percent decline in March, and a 0.6 percent increase in February.

The Conference Board LEI and The Conference Board CEI for Japan continued to decline through April, due mainly to the economic impact of the March 11 earthquake. As a result, the six-month growth rate of the leading economic index has returned to negative territory this month, and the six-month change in the coincident index remained below zero as well. Taken together, the composite indexes and their components suggest that economic activity will likely remain weak in the near term.