TOKYO: Japanese manufacturing activity contracted in December at the fastest pace in more than three years, a survey showed on Friday, as companies focused on drawing down inventories due to a mild recession at home and weak demand for exports.
The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 45.0 in December from 46.5 in November.
The index showed that manufacturing contracted at the fastest pace since April 2009.
"Japan's manufacturing sector continued to struggle against the dual headwinds of weak domestic and external demand forces during December," said Paul Smith, a senior economist at Markit.
"With Japan already in technical recession, this latest set of figures will do little to suggest that the economy has shown any underlying performance improvement in the final months of the year."
The index for new export orders fell to 43.3 from 45.1 in the previous month, indicating the fastest pace of contraction since July.
The output component of the PMI index declined to 44.4 from November's 46.7, showing that output shrank at the fastest pace since April last year.
Economists expect Japan's gross domestic product to shrink in the fourth quarter, which would be the third consecutive quarter of contraction as sharp declines in exports, a territorial dispute with China and slowing domestic consumption pushed the economy into recession.
indiatimes.com
The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 45.0 in December from 46.5 in November.
The index showed that manufacturing contracted at the fastest pace since April 2009.
"Japan's manufacturing sector continued to struggle against the dual headwinds of weak domestic and external demand forces during December," said Paul Smith, a senior economist at Markit.
"With Japan already in technical recession, this latest set of figures will do little to suggest that the economy has shown any underlying performance improvement in the final months of the year."
The index for new export orders fell to 43.3 from 45.1 in the previous month, indicating the fastest pace of contraction since July.
The output component of the PMI index declined to 44.4 from November's 46.7, showing that output shrank at the fastest pace since April last year.
Economists expect Japan's gross domestic product to shrink in the fourth quarter, which would be the third consecutive quarter of contraction as sharp declines in exports, a territorial dispute with China and slowing domestic consumption pushed the economy into recession.
indiatimes.com
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