Japan Private Sector Growth Softens

(RTTNews) - Japan's private sector continued to expand in October but the pace of growth softened due to another fall in manufacturing output, flash survey results from S&P Global showed on Friday.

The composite output index fell to 50.9 in October from 51.3 in September. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion. However, the rate of growth was the softest seen in five months.

Data showed that increased activity across the service sector was offset by a further decline in manufacturing production.

The flash services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 52.4 from 53.3 in the previous month. At the same time, the manufacturing PMI posted 48.3, down from 48.5 in September.

The sustained slowdown coincided with a fresh fall in total new work placed with Japanese companies. Consequently, the rate of payroll growth eased and confidence around the year ahead weakened slightly.

Regarding prices, the survey showed that inflationary pressures increased, with both input costs and output charges rising at faster rates than those seen in September.