The Changed Components of the Indexes of Business Conditions

December 7, 2004


    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 November 12, 2004 to change significantly the components of the indexes for the first time after December 2001, 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 December 7, 2004 had revised the data up to January 1980.


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 Producer's Inventory Ratio of Finished Goods (Producer Goods For Mining and Manufacturing) unchanged (=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 New Housing Construction Started unchanged (=L5)
L6:Index of Producer's Shipment of Durable Consumer Goods (Change From Previous Year) unchanged (=L6)
L7:Consumer Confidence Index unchanged (=L7)
L8:Nikkei Commodity Price Index (42items) (Change From Previous Year) unchanged (=L8)
L9:Interest Rate Spread unchanged (=L9)
L10:Stock Prices (TOPIX) (Change From Previous Year) (=L10) unchanged (=L10)
L11:Index of Investment Climate (Manufacturing) unchanged (=L11)
L12:Index of Business Outlook Judgment of Small Enterprises (All Industries)  Sales Forecast D.I. of Small Business (=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 Value at Department Stores (Change From Previous Year) Retail Sales Value (Change From Previous Year) (=C7)
C8:Wholesale Sales Value (Change From 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) Index of Tertiary Industry Activity (Business Service) (=Lg1)
Lg2:Index of Regular Workers Employment (Manufacturing) (Change From Previous Year) unchanged (=Lg2)
Lg3:Business Expenditures for New Plant and Equipment at Constant Prices (All Industries)  unchanged (=Lg3)
Lg4:Living Expenditure (Workers' Households) (Change From Previous Year) unchanged (=Lg4)
Lg5:Corporation Tax Revenue unchanged (=Lg5)
Lg6:Unemployment Rate unchanged (=Lg6)
Lg7:Interest Rates on New Loans and Discounts (Domestically licensed banks) excluded