Following a nine-tenths percentage point drop in April, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators for South Korea posted its second consecutive monthly increase in May.
May's increase was half a percentage point and follows a four-tenths percent gain in April. The index of leading indicators for South Korea now stands at 153.0 (1990=100).
Growth in the index of leading indicators currently is at an annual rate of about 6%, down from an annual rate of more than 8% in early 2005.
South Korea's GDP, adjusted for inflation, grew at an annual rate of 4.9% during the first quarter of this year, nearly two percentage point less than the 6.7% average rate during the last half of 2005. However, the leading index suggests that "moderate to strong" economic growth should continue in South Korea during the next few months, says the Conference Board, a New York-based business research group.
