The Economic Planning Agency said Friday it has revised downward its three diffusion indexes of economic indicators for March from the preliminary figures released earlier this month.
The EPA revised downward the coincident index, which gauges the current state of the economy, to 80 percent from the initially reported 87.5 percent.
Because of a revision of statistical data related to industrial production by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the number of months in which the coincident index stood above 50 percent became 11 straight, rather than nine reported earlier.
Any reading above 50 percent is considered to indicate an economic expansion, while a reading below that level is taken as pointing toward a contraction.
Adding to the downward revision were sales in the wholesale sector, which declined in March from three months earlier because of data not available when the preliminary report was compiled.
The leading index, which forecasts activity six to nine months ahead, was revised down to 70 percent from the preliminary figure of 87.5 percent. Private-sector machinery orders were a factor in the downward revision of the index, which stayed above the 50 percent threshold for the 13th straight month.
The lagging index, used to confirm peaks and troughs in the recent past, was revised downward to 50 percent from the initial 60 percent. The index stayed below 50 percent for 29 months until February, instead of the initially reported 31 months, as a result of revisions in past data.
On a preliminary basis, all three indexes stood above the 50 percent line for the first time since November 1966, but the revision brought the lagging index down to neutral -- signaling no contraction or expansion of the economy, the agency said.