Asia sector PMI signals growth in March as healthcare services rise fastest in three years

Asia’s sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the month of March signaled output growth in 11 of the 19 monitored sectors. Healthcare services climbed from eighteenth to the top of the output rankings, with the latest expansion in activity the sharpest in three years.

Technology equipment and machinery equipment registered at joint-second place in the league table with solid output growth seen across both sectors. Despite a slowdown since February, insurance also reported a solid expansion in activity.

General industrials were the worst-performing sector in March, thereby ending a seven-month period of growth. Moreover, the latest contraction was the sharpest in over two years. The second to last position in the output rankings was occupied by automobiles & auto parts, where business activity fell at the fastest pace since June 2016.

Meanwhile, modest increases in output were reported in commercial & professional services, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, and forestry & paper products. Consumer services, beverages & food, banks, and chemicals completed the group of categories that experienced an expansion in business activity at the end of the quarter.

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