Japan's private sector keeps growing in October, but factory output rises at the slowest pace in seven months

52.3. Japan's flash composite output index for October matched September's reading, S&P Global reported on Friday, marking a nineteenth straight month above the 50 line that separates growth from contraction.

The mix shifted. The services business activity index rose to 52.0 from 51.3, while the manufacturing PMI fell to 53.3 from 54.1 and the factory output index dropped to 53.1 from 54.9, the softest rise in production since March. New orders grew at the slowest pace in three months across the private sector, and new export business rose at the weakest rate in four months.

Prices moved in opposite directions. Input cost inflation edged higher, which firms linked to raw materials and labour, while the rise in the prices they charged eased to a four-month low. Employers added staff only marginally, and the survey's measure of expectations for the year ahead fell to its lowest since July.

The flash readings come from survey responses collected between October 9 and 21.