S&P Global: Japan’s manufacturing sector remains contracted in Dec. ’24

The au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.5 in December from 49.0 in November, showing a slight improvement but still indicating a contraction in manufacturing activity for the sixth straight month.

New orders continued to decline in December and at a faster pace than in November. Output, however, declined only marginally, supported by increased workforce capacity and the strongest clearance of backlogged orders since March.

However, input price inflation remained notably high in December, marking the sharpest rate of increase in four months. This surge contributed to the steepest rise in output charges since July.

Despite these challenges, firms maintain an optimistic outlook regarding output growth for the upcoming year. Nevertheless, the degree of confidence among firms has fallen to its lowest level since May 2022.

Attribution: S&P Global report

Subediting: M. S. Salama