The world’s major industrial economies are facing the worst economic outlook since the oil crisis of the 1970s, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development reported Friday.

The OECD reports that its composite leading indicators (CLIs) “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,” it adds.

The CLI is designed to provide early signals of turning points (peaks and troughs) between expansions and slowdowns of economic activity.

The indicator 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.

Canada’s CLI decreased by 1.1 point in December and was 7.2 points lower than a year ago.

The drops were even bigger in emerging markets. The CLI for China decreased 2.4 points in December 2008 and was 14.0 points lower than a year ago. The indicator for Russia decreased by 3.8 points in December and was 17.7 points lower than a year ago.

IE