Japan Jibun preliminary August PMIs: Manufacturing 49.7 (prior 49.6) Services 54.3 (53.8)

<p>Manufacturing 49.7, an improvement but still in contraction</p><ul><li>prior 49.6</li></ul><p>Services 54.3, improved from July and a strong result</p><ul><li>prior 53.8</li></ul><p>Composite 52.6</p><ul><li>prior 52.2</li></ul><p>USD/JPY is not a lot changed, down a few points after the report. </p><p>-</p><p>Commentary from the report:</p><ul><li>Growth across the Japanese private sector picked up pace during
August, with the service sector again driving the overall expansion
amid ongoing improvements in new orders. </li><li>Manufacturing continued
to disappoint, however, again failing to generate growth.
Nevertheless, the rates of reduction in output and new orders were less
pronounced than in July.</li><li>With overall new orders continuing to rise, firms upped their staffing
levels accordingly. The weakness in manufacturing demand acted to
deter hiring there, however, with no change in employment ending a
28-month sequence of factory job creation.</li><li>Rising oil prices were a key feature across the latest survey, with firms
across both manufacturing and services reporting an impact on input
costs. Overall, input prices increased at the fastest pace in four
months. Another area of common ground across the two monitored
sectors was with regards to business confidence, which waned across
the board amid concerns around longer-term economic conditions.</li></ul>

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.