Home » Business » Manufacturing
Industrial output slips amid Japan weakness
JAPAN’S industrial output fell in February at the fastest pace in eight months due to declines in production of machinery, cars and electronics in a worrying sign that domestic demand could be faltering.
Economists were already braced for a fall as many companies were expected to trim output due to the timing of Lunar New Year holidays, but the 3.4 percent month-on-month decline in February was much worse than expected at almost double the median estimate for a 1.8 percent fall.
Manufacturers’ forecasts for the coming months still point to a gradual recovery in output, but the outlook is less certain and could complicate the Bank of Japan’s task as the economy slowly rebounds from last year’s recession.
“These results are a little worrying, because the decline in auto output could be due to weak domestic demand,” said Hidenobu Tokuda, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “Output is still on course to recover, but another disappointing number makes this scenario less likely.”
February’s output slump was the biggest since last June, when it also fell by 3.4 percent.
Manufacturers surveyed by the trade ministry expect output to fall 2 percent in March and rise 3.6 percent in April.
If output continues to weaken, it would suggest that consumers are buying less goods and that companies will need to hire fewer workers, in turn hampering Tokyo’s plan to revitalize the world’s third-biggest economy and shake off years of deflation.
The data come two days before the BOJ’s closely watched tankan survey, which is expected to show business sentiment improved in the first quarter.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.