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The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract at a steady pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Friday with a manufacturing PMI score of 48.9.
That's unchanged from the February reading and it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Individually, there were further production cutbacks amid weaker new order inflows, while business confidence remained below the long-term average.
"Further struggles for Japanese manufacturers were apparent at the end of Q1, with latest flash PMI data showing a sustained downturn. Slack demand from domestic and international markets prompted the sharpest cutback in output volumes for almost three years," said IHS Economist Joe Hayes.
