Taiwan Business Indicators in March 2013
Press Release
Council for Economic Planning and Development
April 26, 2013
In March 2013, Taiwan Business Indicators showed the domestic economy still faced many challenges. Among the indicators compiled by the Cabinet’s Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), the annualized six-month rate of change of leading index decreased by 0.2 points, the trend-adjusted coincident index decreased by 0.6% from the previous month, and the overall monitoring indicator flashed the " yellow-blue" signal.
1. Leading Indicators: With revised data, the composite leading index stood at 135.3, up by 0.4% from February 2013. Its annualized six-month rate of change decreased by 0.2 points to 6.3%. Among the seven indicators making up the trend-adjusted index, SEMI book-to-bill ratio, stock price index, real monetary aggregates M1B, and average monthly overtime in industry and services had positive cyclical movements from previous month. Index of export orders, index of producer's inventory for manufacturing (inverted), and building permits had negative cyclical movements from previous month.
2. Coincident Indicators: With revised data, the coincident index stood at 132.4, down by 0.3% from February 2013. Its trend-adjusted index decreased by 0.6% to 97.6. Among the seven indicators making up the trend-adjusted index, real machineries and electrical equipments imports had positive cyclical movements from previous month. Index of producer’s shipment for manufacturing, industrial production index, electric power consumption, sales index of trade and food services, real customs-cleared exports, and nonagricultural employment had negative cyclical movements from previous month.
3. Lagging Indicators: With revised data, the lagging index stood at 137.2, up by 0.7% from February 2013. Its trend-adjusted index increased by 0.3% to 101.2. Among the six indicators making up the trend-adjusted index, inventories to sales ratio for manufacturing, the manufacturing unit output labor cost index, loans and investments of monetary financial institutions had positive cyclical movements from previous month. Unemployment rate (inverted), regular employees on payrolls in industry and services, and interbank overnight call-loan rate had negative cyclical movements from previous month.
4. The Monitoring Indicators: The total score in March lost two points to 18, flashing the “yellow-blue” signal for the seventh consecutive month. Among the nine components, customs-cleared exports changed its individual light signal from “blue” to “yellow-blue”, sales index of trade and food services changed its individual light signal from “yellow-blue” to “green”, each gained one point. Industrial production index changed its individual light signal from “green” to “blue”, lost two points, nonagricultural employment changed its individual light signal from “green” to “yellow-blue”, manufacturing sales changed its individual light signal from “yellow-blue” to “blue”, each lost one point. The light signals for the rest of four components remained unchanged.
~~ The next release is scheduled for May 27 2013 ~~