November data underscores Japanese woes

Japan's industrial output slumped for a third straight month in November to a 14-year low, while retail sales and construction…

Japan's industrial output slumped for a third straight month in November to a 14-year low, while retail sales and construction orders also dropped, keeping Japan's faltering currency under pressure.

Production at Japanese mines and factories fell a seasonally adjusted 1.8 per cent from the previous month, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) data showed today, worse than a 1.1 per cent drop expected by most economists.

The drop put the industrial production index at 90.9, its lowest since November 1987, and swept the yen to another three-year low against the dollar.

Car makers cut production as exports to the United States slid in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York and toy manufacturing for the Christmas season appeared to peak before November.

READ MORE

Other data added to a sense of gloom that has enveloped Japan as it wrestles with its third recession in eight years.

Retail sales fell for the eighth straight month in November, by 2.7 per cent from a year earlier, METI said, while orders received by 50 major Japanese construction companies slid 6.9 per cent and housing starts dropped 1.2 per cent.

Both the construction orders and housing starts were down for a third straight month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.