2021.10.2900:25:00UTC+00Japan Industrial Production Drops 5.4% In September

Industrial output in Japan shed a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent on month in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday.

That missed expectations for a decline of 3.2 percent following the 3.6 percent contraction in August.

On a yearly basis, industrial production sank 2.3 percent - again missing forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 8.8 percent gain in the previous month.

Upon the release of the data, the METI's assessment of industrial production is that it is pausing.

Shipments were down 6.2 percent on month and 4.6 percent on year, thanks to declines among motor vehicles, business oriented machinery and plastics.

Inventories rose 3.7 percent on month and 0.8 percent on year following increases among electrical machinery, iron and steel and motor vehicles.

According to the METI's forecast for industrial production, out is expected to rise 6.4 percent in October and 5.7 percent in November.

The increase in October is attributed to gains among transport equipment, production machinery and electronic parts. November's gain is fueled by transport equipment, electrical machinery and production machinery.

Also on Friday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication said: . The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in September, in line with expectations and unchanged from the August reading.

The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.16, exceeding expectations for 1.14, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.

The participation rate was 62.3 percent, matching forecasts and down from 62.4 percent a month earlier. . Overall inflation in the Tokyo region of Japan was up 0.1 percent on year in October, in line with forecasts and down from 0.3 percent in September.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, also rose just 0.1 percent on year - unchanged from the previous month but shy of expectations for 0.3 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was down 0.4 percent and core CPI slipped 0.2 percent.