The Changed Components of the Indexes of Business Conditions

January 9, 2002


    The components of the Indexes of Business Conditions have always been reexamined after they had been used through a single business cycle, and have been changed if the indexes were expected to improve their performances.
    The ESRI has determined on December 21, 2001 to change significantly the components of the indexes for the first time after June 1996, following the advice of the Working Group of Indexes of Business Conditions.
    The information of the changed components is shown in the table below.
    The new indexes with changed components published from January 9, 2002 had revised the data up to April 1973.


1. Leading Index

Old components
New components
L1:Index of Producer's Inventory Ratio of Finished Goods (Final Demand Goods) unchanged (=L1)
L2:Index of Raw Materials Inventory to Consumption Ratio (Manufacturing) Index of Producer's Inventory Ratio of Finished Goods (Producer Goods For Mining and Manufacturing) (=L2)
L3:New Job offers (Excluding New School Graduates) unchanged (=L3)
L4:New Orders for Machinery at Constant Prices (Except for Volatile Orders) unchanged (=L4)
L5:Total Floor Area of Building Construction Started excluded
L6:Total Floor Area of New Housing Construction Started unchanged (=L5)
L7:Number of New Passenger Car Registrations and Reports Index of Producer's Shipment of Durable Consumer Goods (Percent change from the previous year) (=L6)
Consumer Confidence Index (=L7)
L8:Nikkei Commodity Price Index (17items) (Percent change from the previous year) Nikkei Commodity Price Index (42items) (Percent change from the previous year) (=L8)
L9:Money Supply (M2+CD) (Percent change from the previous year) Interest Rate Spread (=L9)
Stock Prices (TOPIX) (Percent change from the previous year) (=L10)
L10:Index of Investment Climate (Manufacturing) unchanged (=L11)
L11:Index of Business Outlook Judgment of Small Enterprises (All Industries)  unchanged (=L12)

2. Coincident Index

Old components
New components
C1:Index of Industrial Production (Mining and Manufacturing) unchanged (=C1)
C2:Index of Consumption of Raw Materials (Manufacturing) Index of Producer's Shipments (Producer Goods for Mining and Manufacturing) (=C2)
C3:Large Industrial Power Consumption unchanged (=C3)
C4:Index of Capacity Utilization Ratio (Manufacturing) unchanged (=C4)
C5:Index of Non-Scheduled Worked Hours (Manufacturing) unchanged (=C5)
C6:Index of Producer's Shipment (Investment Goods Excluding Transport Equipments) unchanged (=C6)
C7:Sales at Department Stores (Percent change from the previous year) unchanged (=C7)
C8:Index of Sales in Wholesale Trade (Percent change from the previous year) unchanged (=C8)
C9:Operating Profits (All Industries)  unchanged (=C9)
C10:Index of Sales in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (Manufacturing) unchanged (=C10)
C11:Effective Job Offer Rate (Excluding New School Graduates) unchanged (=C11)

3. Lagging Index

Old components
New components
Lg1:Index of Producer's Inventory of Finished Goods (Final Demand Goods) unchanged (=Lg1)
Lg2:Index of Raw Material Inventory (Manufacturing) excluded
Lg3:Index of Regular Workers Employment (Manufacturing) (SA) Index of Regular Workers Employment (Manufacturing) (Percent change from the previous year) (=Lg2)
Lg4:Business Expenditures for New Plant and Equipment at Constant Prices (All Industries)  unchanged (=Lg3)
Lg5:Living Expenditure (Worker's Households) (Percent change from the previous year) unchanged (=Lg4)
Lg6:Corporation Tax Revenue unchanged (=Lg5)
Lg7:Unemployment Rate unchanged (=Lg6)
Lg8:Interest Rates on Contracted Loans and Discounts(Domestically licensed banks) Interest Rates on New Loans and Discounts (Domestically licensed banks) (=Lg7)