News release: “OECD composite leading indicators (CLIs) for December 2008 continue to point to a weakening outlook for all the major seven economies. The CLIs in most OECD countries have fallen to levels that were last seen during the oil shocks of the 1970s. The outlook has significantly deteriorated in the major non-OECD member economies who are now also facing strong slowdowns.

The CLI for the OECD area decreased by 1.1 point in December 2008 and was 8.2 points lower than in December 2007. The CLI for the United States fell by 1.4 point in December and was 9.5 points lower than a year ago. The Euro area’s CLI decreased by 0.9 point in December and stood 8.2 points lower than a year ago. In December, the CLI for Japan decreased by 1.4 point, and was 7.3 points lower than a year ago.

The CLI for the United Kingdom fell by 0.4 point in December 2008 and was 6.8 points lower than a year ago. The CLI for Canada decreased by 1.1 point in December and was 7.2 points lower than a year ago. For France, the CLI decreased by 0.5 point in December and was 5.9 points lower than a year ago. The CLI for Germany fell by 1.6 point in December and was 11.8 points lower than a year ago. For Italy, the CLI fell by 0.4 point in December and stood 5.6 points lower than a year ago.

The CLI for China decreased 2.4 points in December 2008 and was 14.0 points lower than a year ago. The CLI for India fell by 0.5 point in December 2008 and was 7.5 points lower than in December 2007. The CLI for Russia decreased by 3.8 points in December and was 17.7 points lower than a year ago. In December 2008 the CLI for Brazil decreased by 1.8 point and was 5.4 points lower than a year ago.