Japan Industrial Production Eases 0.1% In April

(RTTNews) - Industrial output in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday.

That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 1.5 percent following the 4.4 percent gain in March.

On a yearly basis, industrial production sank 1.0 percent.

Upon the release of the data, the METI downgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying that it fluctuates indecisively but has weakened.

Industries that contributed to the decline included transport equipment, business-oriented machinery and electronics equipment - offset by gains among production machinery, fabricated metals and chemicals.

Shipments were up 0.2 percent on month and down 0.8 percent on year, while inventories fell 0.5 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year. The inventory ratio slumped 1.1 percent on month and rose 0.1 percent on year.

According to the METI's forecast of industrial production, output is seen higher by 6.9 percent in Mat and lower by 5.6 percent in June.

Industries contributing to the increase in May include transport equipment, production machinery and electronics equipment.

Industries contributing to the decline in June are expected to be production machinery, transport equipment and chemicals.

Also on Friday, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said that the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in April. That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the March reading.

The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.26, shy of forecasts for 1.28 - which would have been unchanged. The participation rate was 63.1, topping forecasts for 63.0 and up from 62.8 in the previous month.

Also, overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan were up 2.2 percent on year in May - accelerating from 1.8 percent in April. Core CPI was up an annual 1.9 percent, rising from 1.6 percent in the previous month.