Key points: • Flash Japan Manufacturing PMI® declines in March to 53.2, from 54.1 in February. • New orders increase, albeit to weakest extent in five months. • Job creation eases amid joint-softest pace of output growth since July 2017. Data collected 12 – 19 March. Today sees the latest public release of the Nikkei Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI® ). Published on a monthly basis approximately one week before final PMI data are released, this makes the PMI the earliest available indicator of manufacturing sector operating conditions in Japan. The estimate is typically based on ... (full story)