Major economies signal slowdown: OECD

Composite leading indicators point to a slowdown in most major economies for May 2011, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development  (OECD) said in its latest monthly economic overview, Economic Outlook, yesterday.
 
China and many eurozone countries are indicating economic slowdown and the United States and Japan may slip towards a downward slope, the OECD said.

China, India, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Brazil were already on a slowdown trend, the OECD said.

The United States, Japan and Russia were at turning points in the growth cycle, the OECD said on the basis of leading indicators pointing towards future trends.

The OECD's composite leading indicators (CLIs) is designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend and totally covers 33 countries. 

The outlook for Japan should be interpreted with some caution, reflecting the necessarily higher degree of uncertainty in the relationships between the leading components of the Japanese CLI and overall economic activity in the wake of the March 2011 earthquake, said OCED.

With the exception of the United States, last month's the indicators suggest slow growth by OECD countries.