Preliminary and prior can be found here
Comments from Markit:
- "Japan's service economy edged a little further along the path to recovery in July, with some firms experiencing an uplift after the state of emergency was lifted. The latest falls in business activity and new work were much less severe that those seen on average in the second quarter of 2020. Export sales were an exception in July as international travel restrictions meant that demand from overseas continued its rapid descent.
- "While there were some positive signs in terms of domestic sales, large parts of the service sector remained impacted by fragile customer demand and the cancellation of projects due to the pandemic. As a result, service providers commented on the need to reduce fixed overheads and an aversion to replacing departing staff.
- "Survey respondents are now more optimistic about the business outlook than at any time since February. However, projections of growth in the next 12 months were unsurprisingly contingent on the degree of success in suppressing the virus at home and abroad."
The ' dependent on the virus' viewpoint is a constant caveat, as Fed Chair Powel said last week, almost the same as Markit here:
- "the path of the economy is going to depend to a very high extent on the course of the virus, and on the measures that we take to keep it in check. That is just a very fundamental fact."
