Japan’s Services Sector Shrinks for First Time in 5 Months in August: PMI

Japan’s Services Sector Shrinks for First Time in 5 Months in August: PMI
People cross a street in Tokyo on March 18, 2015. Yuya Shino/Reuters
|Updated:

TOKYO—Japan’s services sector activity shrank for the first time in five months in August as a resurgence of COVID-19 infections hurt demand, a business survey showed.

The contraction shows that a recovery of the world’s third-largest economy remains fragile at best and is worrying at a time when the global growth outlook is turning increasingly pessimistic.