March 1 Reuters Asia39;s major manufacturing economies struggled to claw their way out of decline in February with Japan particularly squeezed by a steeper fall in demand while an uneven recovery in China overshadowed some signs of improvement elsewhere in the region.

A raft of business surveys released on Friday highlighted a patchy performance across Asia with Japan39;s manufacturing purchasing managers39; index PMI showing factory activity falling at the fastest pace in more than three years.

There were more mixed signals out of China with the government39;s official PMI showing factory activity continuing to fall, in contrast to a slight pick up seen in the privatesector Caixin PMI.

February PMI data indicated another month of deteriorating operating conditions in the Japanese manufacturing sector, said Usamah Bhatti at SP Global Market Intelligence.

Depressed demand in domestic and international markets continued to weigh on sector performance, as both production and new orders fell at the strongest rate for a year.

Worryingly, recent data suggests the weakness seen in Japan in the second half of last year has extended into the first quarter of 2024, complicating the Bank of Japan39;s task as it looks to exit ultraeasy monetary policy.

Japan unexpectedly slipped into recession in the fourth quarter and lost its title as the world39;s thirdlargest economy to Germany as consumer and business spending weakened.

Its PMI followed official Japanese data this week…