Japan's Industrial Output Rises 2.2% in September, Beating Forecasts: Jobless Rate Eases to 2.4% as Factories See 5.1% October Jump
Japan's industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in September from the previous month, preliminary government data released on October 30 showed, beating a median Reuters forecast of about 1.3% and reversing August's 2.4% decline for the fastest monthly gain since January. Output was up 1.9% from a year earlier. Motor vehicles, production machinery, and business-oriented machinery led the gains, partly offset by weakness in metals, ceramics, and chemicals. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry kept its assessment unchanged, saying production continues to fluctuate indecisively.
Manufacturers' own forecasts turned notably upbeat: companies surveyed expect output to jump 5.1% in October, a sharp upgrade from the 3.1% increase forecast a month earlier, followed by a further 0.8% rise in November, though such forecasts are often revised once actual data arrive.
On jobs, the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 2.4% in September from 2.5% in August. The number of unemployed fell by 100,000 to 1.67 million, while employment rose by 340,000 to a four-month high of 68.68 million. The jobs-to-applicants ratio ticked up to 1.19 from 1.18.
Consumer spending was softer: retail sales rose 2.3% from a year earlier, short of the 3.3% expected and below August's revised 2.9% pace, and fell 0.7% from the previous month for a second straight monthly decline. In Tokyo, consumer prices rose 2.8% in October from a year earlier, with core prices excluding fresh food up 2.6%, the first deceleration in five months, still above the Bank of Japan's 2% target. The data landed just hours before the Bank of Japan's policy decision the same day, giving policymakers signals pointing in opposite directions: firm production and jobs on one side, soft household spending on the other.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：东京涩谷与新宿一带黄昏全景（资料图）。照片：Ximonic (Simo Räsänen)，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Dusk panorama over Tokyo's Shibuya and Shinjuku districts (file photo). Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
