Composite leading indicators (CLIs) designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, point to a slowdown in most major economies for May 2011.

The CLIs point to slowdowns in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and India. In the United States, Japan and Russia tentative signs of turning points in the growth cycle are emerging.

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.

Potential slowdown in the OECD area