The Reuters Tankan sentiment index for Japanese manufacturers improved to -13 in November, up from October’s -16. That’ marked improvement over the cyclic low of -46 registered back in June. However, the index remained negative for the 16th straight months since August 2019. It’s also staying well below February’s pre-pandemic level at -5.
Non-manufacturing index was up slightly to -13, from October’s -16. Improvement over May’s low of -36 is less drastic. It’s, nonetheless, still the 9th straight month of negative reading since March.
Overall, the data suggested that the Japan economy is still struggling to shake off the drag from the pandemic crisis.
