The economic outlook for the OECD area declined at a slower pace in April, an OECD survey said on Monday, and there were stronger indications that the downturn may have hit bottom in Canada, France, Italy and Britain.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said its composite leading indicator for the OECD area rose in April, reaching 93.2 compared to a revised 92.7 in March. There was an 8.3 point drop from April a year earlier.

The indicator for major economies in the Group of Seven also rose to 92.4 from a revised 92.0 the previous month, giving a 9.2 point year-on-year drop.

“While it is still too early to assess whether it is a temporary or a more durable turning point, OECD composite leading indicators (CLIs) for April 2009 point to a reduced pace of deterioration in most of the OECD economies,” the OECD said in its survey.

After last month’s early signs of a pause in the slowdown in France, Italy and Britain, there were now stronger signals that the downturn had reached bottom in these countries.

April’s indicators for Canada also pointed to a possible trough, the OECD said.

“The signals remain tentative but they are present in the majority of CLI component series for these countries,” the OECD indicated in Monday’s report.

In Japan, Germany and the United States, positive signals were also beginning to emerge, the OECD said, although the leading indicators were still pointing to a slowdown.

Japan in particular saw its CLI rise slightly to 89.5 in April, from 89.4 the previous month, representing an 11.9 point decline compared to the same period last year.

More..

Canada is not among a small group of major economies showing tentative signs of a “pause” in their economic slowdown, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development said Monday.

Those countries showing less gloomy signals are China, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, said the OECD, a Paris-based think-tank sponsored by major western democracies, in its monthly report of composite leading indicators.

The report is intended to give early signals of the business cycle’s turning points.

The four “are showing tentative signs of, at least, a pause in the economic slowdown,” the OECD said in a news release.

Canada, with its fortunes far more closely tied to the U.S. than its major trading partners, remains in a “strong slowdown” phase of the economic cycle, with its CLI falling by 0.4 points to 91.1 in March. The total was 10.2 points lower than during the same period a year ago.

The CLI for the United States fell by 0.6 points in March, to 89.9, and was 11.8 points lower than a year ago.

France, where a relatively large portion of the economy is in the public sector, the CLI increased by 1.2 points to 97.9 and was only 2.7 points below the previous year.

The CLI looks at various components of economic activity in order to give early signals of the business cycle’s turning points, according to the OECD.

More..