Investing.com-- Japanese business activity shrank for a fifth straight month in November, preliminary purchasing managers index data showed on Friday, as the manufacturing sector contracted, while the services sector picked up slightly.
The au Jibun Bank flash Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined to 49.0 in November from 49.2 in October, below the forecast of 49.5. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
“Demand conditions at private sector companies were stagnant during November, and unchanged from that seen at the start of the fourth quarter,” said Usamah Bhatti, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiled the survey.
Both output and new orders fell in the latest survey period, with the former down by the largest degree since April.
The continuous declines in new orders also saw manufacturers reduce employment for the first time since February, the survey showed.
The au Jibun Bank flash services PMI ticked up to 50.2 in November from 49.7 in the previous month, although, pace of expansion in new businesses was modest and little changed from that seen in October.
"As has been the case for much of the past four years, price pressures remained elevated across the Japanese private sector, with a large number of respondents mentioning higher raw material prices and the weakness of the yen,” Bhatti said.