East Asia Econ

East Asia Today

Lots of charts on Japan, on profits, capex, and unemployment. Also, highlights from today's PMI for Korea. That is solid, but not as strong as in Japan and Taiwan. Like Taiwan, however, the Korean PMI points to rising price pressures – and that even before a new oil price shock.

Paul Cavey

Mar 3, 2026 • 2 min read

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Japan – profits and capex strong

The Q4 data showed corporate profits and capex remaining strong, but little change in firms' huge cash holdings. The labour share has bottomed, but isn't rising. Separate data show unemployment creeping up, which will become a bigger concern if the war with Iran causes a cycle problem.

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East Asia Today

The latest Middle East war might change everything again. But before the latest conflict, Asia's manufacturing cycle was accelerating. That's clear with the chip-led export surge in Korea in February, and the stronger manufacturing PMIs for Taiwan and Japan.

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Last week, next week

The big theme in focus last week was current account surpluses, which across the region are both large and structural. There will be some downside risk if the latest problems in the Middle East cause oil prices to spike. Otherwise, the surpluses remain a fundamental reason for currency appreciation.