(Click on JP/TAN1 for main story) TOKYO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Sentiment among Japanese manufacturers and service-sector firms in December improved to its least pessimistic since February, as businesses eyed a slow and bumpy recovery from COVID-19 disruptions, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. The Reuters Tankan index readings are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A negative reading means that pessimists outnumber optimists. Following is a table of indexes for key sectors and a comparison with the Bank of Japan"s quarterly tankan survey: 2021 2020 MAR (f"cast) DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL =============================================================== MANUFACTURERS (-5) -9 -13 -26 -29 -33 -44 --------------------------------------------------------------- (Materials) (-16) -20 -19 -40 -40 -36 -49 - Textiles/paper (-36) -36 -33 -64 -45 -42 -54 - Chemicals (+4) 0 -5 -19 -25 -34 -50 - Oil refinery/ceramics (0) -14 0 -14 -25 -14 -12 - Steel/nonferrous metals (-50) -50 -45 -78 -73 -57 -75 (Manufactured products) (+2) -2 -10 -19 -23 -35 -41 - Food (0) +18 -9 0 0 -10 -20 - Metal products/machinery (+4) -22 -4 -13 -22 -32 -45 - Electric machinery (0) 0 -5 -14 -9 -22 -26 - Autos/transport equipment(+23) +23 -17 -23 -36 -64 -67 - Precision machinery/others(-20) -14 -22 -50 -47 -36 -50 =============================================================== NON-MANUFACTURERS (-4) -4 -13 -16 -18 -23 -26 --------------------------------------------------------------- - Real estate/construction (8) 0 -8 -8 -12 -13 -19 - Retail/wholesale (-7) -5 -17 -25 -22 -19 -15 - Wholesalers (-14) -19 -33 -40 -47 -50 -35 - Retailers (-14) +12 0 -6 +6 +17 +5 - Information/communications(+36) +36 +27 +42 +38 +45 +36 - Transport/utility (0) -6 -11 -26 -21 -44 -47 - Other services (-32) -27 -34 -36 -52 -54 -67 =============================================================== *** COMPARISON WITH BANK OF JAPAN TANKAN *** =============================================================== MANUFACTURERS NON-MANUFACTURERS RTRS BOJ RTRS BOJ --------------------------------------------------------------- MAR 2021 (forecast) -5 - -4 - FEB - - - - JAN - - - - DEC 2020 -9 (-17) -4 (-11) NOV -13 - -13 - OCT -26 - -16 - SEP -29 -27 -18 -12 AUG -33 - -23 - JULY -44 - -26 - JUNE -46 -34 -32 -17 MAY -44 - -36 - APRIL -30 - -23 - MARCH -20 -8 -10 +8 FEB -5 - +15 - JAN -6 - +14 - DEC 2019 -6 0 +14 +20 NOV -9 - +12 - OCT -5 - +25 - SEP -7 +5 +19 +21 AUG -4 - +13 - JULY +3 - +25 - JUNE +6 +7 +22 +23 MAY +12 - +27 - APRIL +8 - +24 - MARCH +10 +12 +22 +21 FEB +13 - +22 - JAN +18 - +31 - DEC 2018 +23 +19 +31 +24 NOV +26 - +30 - OCT +28 - +24 - SEPT +26 +19 +33 +22 AUG +30 - +25 - JULY +25 - +34 - JUNE +26 +21 +35 +24 MAY +22 - +39 - APRIL +21 - +36 - MARCH +28 +24 +35 +23 FEB +29 - +33 - JAN +35 - +33 - ---------------------------------------------------------------- (Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Sam Holmes)