A further collapse to the lowest ever for the services PMI
Services 21.5
- preliminary was 22.8
- prior 33.8
Composite 25.8
- preliminary was 27.8
- prior 36.2
IHS Markit comments:
- Japan's economic downturn accelerated in April
- Given the stepped-up response from the Government to tackle the spread of COVID-19, it's unsurprising to see a plethora of record lows across the service sector survey.
- new orders and output fell at unprecedented rates
- suggest that at present the levels, the economy is contracting an annual rate of approximately 12%
- employment index held up pretty well in April, signalling only a mild month-on-month decline. This is a good sign, and if the majority of firms do retain their workforces, it will be strongly supportive of a quicker recovery
Bolding, of the optimistic sign, is mine
