Global Semiconductor Industry Leading Indicator up in April

Economic research firm e-forecasting.com this morning announced that their Global Semiconductor industry leading indicator, World-SLI, went up in April.

The leading indicator, comparable to the company's global regional semiconductor industry indicators for Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and Japan, is a forward-looking composite index that forecasts six months ahead, on average, business activity for the global market for semiconductors.  All indicators, including the World-SLI, are released on a monthly basis.

Following an increase of 1.1% in March, the Global semiconductor leading indicator went up 1.7% in April to a reading of 165.5.  The index was set to average 100 in 2005.

"With our April global semiconductor industry leading indicator, we see in just six short month's, the six month growth rate has improved and hit the level reached back in January of 2011.  Also, this month all regions that contribute to this global semiconductor industry leading indicator improved," commented Maria Simos Sogard, CEO of e-forecasting.com.  "In April, the Asia Pacific region showed the greatest strength while the America's region had the least positive impact."

Looking at the six-month growth rate of the leading indicator - which is used in business cycle analysis for both signaling impending turning points in business activity and as a recession monitor, the six month growth rate was 10.6%, an improvement from March's rate of 8%. Consecutive positive values in the six-month growth rate predict an end to an economic recession and the beginning of an upcoming expansion.

e-forecasting.com, an international economic research and consulting firm, offers forecasts of the economic environment using proprietary, real-time indicators to produce customized solutions. e-forecasting.com is published globally and collaborates with domestic and international clients to provide timely economic content for use as predictive intelligence.