REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
Participants watch South Korean President Park Geun-hye make a speech on small screens fitted in their seats during a ceremony celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Independence Movement Day in Seoul March 1, 2014.
The anecdotes from the reports will be scrutinized carefully as economists attempt to separate short-term weather-related disruptions from the longer-term economic trends.
During the month, the eastern U.S. was battered by winter storms while the western U.S. struggled with droughts. Droughts also hit Brazil, sending coffee prices surging. Indeed, temperatures around the world have actually been unusually warm.
In terms of the real economy, all eyes will be focused on China, which continues to show signs of slowing. On Saturday, we learned China's official manufacturing PMI hit an 8-month low of 50.2.
Here's our scorecard with highlights:
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Japan: JMMA Manufacturing PMI: 55.5 - down from 55.5 in January
-Sharpest rate of job creation in seven years, Prices charged increase at sharpest pace since October 2008
Brazil: HSBC Manufacturing PMI: 50.4 - down from 50.8
-Input cost and output price inflation both accelerate
China: Official Manufacturing PMI: 50.2 - down from 50.5
-An eight-month low
Australia: Ai Group Manufacturing PMI: 48.6 - up from 46.7
-The exports sub-index collapsed to 25.8 from 34.1.
South Korea: HSBC Manufacturing PMI: 48.5 - down from 49.5
-The first sub-50 reading since September
China: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Vietnam: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Taiwan: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Indonesia: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
India: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Russia: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Ireland: Investec Manufacturing PMI
Netherlands: NEVI Manufacturing PMI
Poland: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Turkey: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Spain: Markit Manufacturing PMI
Czech Republic: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Italy: Markit/ADACI Manufacturing PMI
France: Markit Manufacturing PMI
Germany: Markit/BME Manufacturing PMI
Eurozone: Markit Manufacturing PMI
UK: Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI
Brazil: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
U.S.: Markit Manufacturing PMI
Canada: RBC Manufacturing PMI
Mexico: HSBC Manufacturing PMI
Global: JPMorgan Manufacturing PMI
Greece: Markit Manufacturing PMI
At the beginning of each month, Markit, HSBC, RBC, JP Morgan, and several other major data gathering institutions publish the latest local readings of the manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) for countries around the world. Read more about it at Markit.