Industrial production in Japan climbed 0.5 percent on month in November, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday.
That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 1.5 percent jump in November.
On a yearly basis, industrial production climbed 3.0 percent – in line with expectations and down from 4.6 percent in the previous month.
Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that movement is picking up.
Industries that had increased production were transport equipment, chemicals and electronics parts.
Industries that had decreased production were communications equipment and business-oriented machinery.
Shipments were down 0.3 percent on month and up 2.4 percent on year.
Industries that had increased shipments were transport equipment, communications equipment and iron and steel.
Industries that had decreased shipments were electronics parts, chemicals and ceramics.
Inventories were up 0.2 percent on month and down 5.0 percent on year.
Industries that had increased inventories were electrical machinery, iron and steel and petroleum products.
Industries that had decreased inventories were transport equipment, chemicals and ceramics.
The production forecast shows an increase of 3.0 percent in January and 0.8 percent in February.
Industries expected to contribute to the rise in January include business oriented machinery, electronic parts and communications equipment.
Industries expected to contribute to the rise in February include transport equipment, electronic parts and chemicals.
Also on Tuesday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said:
• The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.1 percent in December, in line with expectations and unchanged from the November reading.
The number of employed persons in December was 64.66 million, an increase of 810,000 or 1.3 percent on year.
The number of unemployed persons in December was 1.93 million, a decrease of 110,000 or 5.4 percent on year.
The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.43, topping forecasts for 1.42 and up from 1.41 in the previous month.
The participation rate was 60.1 percent, up from 60.0 a month earlier.
• The average of household spending in Japan was down 0.3 percent on year in December, coming in at 318,488 yen.
The headline figure topped expectations for a decline of 0.9 percent following the 1.5 percent decline in November.
The average of monthly income per household stood at 924,920 yen, up 2.3 percent on year.
The average of consumption expenditures per household was 349,214 yen, up an annual 2.2 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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