Japan\u2019s manufacturing sector contracted sharply in October, with the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI<\/strong> falling to 48.2<\/strong>, its lowest level since March 2024<\/strong>. This marks the fourth consecutive month below the 50.0 threshold<\/strong>, which separates growth from contraction. The latest figure also missed the preliminary estimate of 49.3 and September\u2019s 48.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Weakness in automotive and semiconductor demand<\/strong> drove the downturn, according to the private-sector survey released Tuesday. New orders dropped<\/strong> at the fastest rate in 20 months, while export demand fell for a 44th consecutive month<\/strong>, though at a slower pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While production output declined<\/strong>, the drop was milder than in September, as firms adapted to lower order volumes. Rising input costs added pressure, with input inflation hitting a four-month high<\/strong> due to increases in labor, materials, and transport expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To protect margins, manufacturers raised output prices at the fastest rate in three months. This comes amid signs of accelerating consumer inflation<\/strong>, as shown in Tokyo\u2019s latest price data, which continues to test the Bank of Japan\u2019s 0.5% interest rate stance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the weak current conditions, Japanese manufacturers turned more optimistic<\/strong> in October. The outlook was boosted by expectations for new product launches<\/strong>, increased AI adoption<\/strong>, and eventual recovery in key sectors as global trade normalizes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n S&P Global\u2019s Pollyanna De Lima noted that many firms are hoping the impact of U.S. tariffs will ease<\/strong> and that future innovations will stimulate demand across automotive and chip-related industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Automotive and chip demand slump weighs on PMI Japan\u2019s manufacturing sector contracted sharply in October, with the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI falling to 48.2, its lowest level since March 2024. This marks the fourth consecutive month below the 50.0 threshold, which separates growth from contraction. The latest figure also missed the preliminary estimate of 49.3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":13208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13207"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13209,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13207\/revisions\/13209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cost pressures mount despite easing output decline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outlook improves on AI hopes and global recovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n