East Asia Econ

East Asia Today

China's November S&P services PMI didn't confirm the weakness seen in the official version. S&P today also released its services PMI for Japan. That sent the same message as other sentiment surveys: far from weakening, economic momentum in Japan is improving. Also today, my latest video and podcast.

Paul Cavey

Dec 3, 2025 • 2 min read

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Region – latest video....and podcast

My latest video, focusing on Taiwan and Korea, and a podcast in which I discuss the outlook for the broader region.

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East Asia Today

Japan's consumers like what they are seeing of Sanae Takaichi, with another bounce in confidence in November. That removes another reason for BOJ caution. In Korea, inflation remains at around 2%, but services inflation – a better measure of domestically generated price pressures – is higher.

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Korea – core inflation stable, but not low

The BOK says the rise in headline CPI inflation to 2.4% the last couple of months is temporary, and that core is stable. That isn't an unreasonable assessment. However, I'd continue to highlight the strength of services inflation, which remains firm reltive to ongoing labour market weakness.