Japan Dec Small Business Confidence Falls

(RTTNews) - Confidence among Japan's small and medium-sized enterprises decreased in December, survey data released by the Shoko Chukin Bank showed Wednesday.

The small business confidence declined to 46.7 in December from 47.7 in November.

Similarly, confidence in the manufacturing sector fell to 46.1 in December from 47.4 in November. The non-manufacturing confidence index decreased to 47.2 from 47.8 in the previous month.

"The decline in small business confidence to a seven-month low in December underlines that economic momentum in Japan remains sluggish, " Marcel Thieliant, a Japan economist at Capital Economics, said.

"In contrast to the flash manufacturing PMI, which indicates that the sector is in recovery, the current level of small business confidence is consistent with falling industrial production. What's more, the outlook is not particularly upbeat, either: the forecast for January stands at 47.3, "