TOKYO (Reuters) – A survey showed on Tuesday that factory activity in Japan contracted for the third consecutive month in January, as exports remained weak amid a worsening global outlook.
The “Jibbon Bank” purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector recorded 48.9 in a preliminary reading after adjusting for seasonal factors, unchanged from the final reading in the previous month.
The index remained below the 50-point barrier, which separates growth from contraction, for the third month in a row, after the final figure for December recorded the fastest decline in 26 months.
Sub-index data showed factory production and new orders fell for the seventh month in a row, albeit at a slower pace than last month.
The Reuters Tankan poll last week showed the first negative reading of business confidence in major Japanese companies in two years, amid deteriorating conditions abroad and rising living costs.
In contrast, the growth of the services sector accelerated for the fifth month thanks to the boom in tourism and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
The service sector purchasing managers’ index, released by Jibbon Bank, rose to 52.4 in January from 51.1 in the previous month, the highest level in three months.
(Prepared by Ali Khafaji for the Arabic Bulletin)
