Japan Private Sector Expands Most In 9 Months

(RTTNews) - Japan's private sector expanded at the fastest pace in nine months in May as the manufacturing activity recovered for the first time in a year, flash survey results from S&P Global showed on Thursday.

The au Jibun Bank flash composite output index hit 52.4 in May, up from 52.3 in April. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion.

The private sector expanded for the third consecutive month and also logged the fastest growth since August 2023.

"This indicated that growth momentum continued to improve midway into the second quarter of 2024 and hints at a better Q2 GDP reading, after the disappointing first quarter print," Jingyi Pan, as economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.

The overall expansion in the private sector was driven by services activity, but the near-stabilization of manufacturing output offers hope of growth broadening out later in the year, said Pan.

The services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 53.6 from 54.3 in the prior month. Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI rose to 50.5 in May from 49.6 in April.