Japan factory activity at 11-year low as pandemic presses

June had seen Japan’s manufacturing activity struggling at an 11-year low.  This indicated that the novel coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected manufacturers even as services-sector confidence advanced.

The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to a seasonally adjusted 37.8. It followed after placing at 38.4 in May. This came to be the sharpest reading since March 2009 for two consecutive months, placing below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for 14 months.

The inactivity monitored in the manufacturing sector highlighted the sustained damage of the virus crisis on export-dependent economies such as Japan’s. More so, the world’s third-biggest economy is likely to suffer from its sharpest postwar slump this quarter.