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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Record 9.6% fall in output sparks fear for Japan's future |
| 2009-01-31 |
| The depth of the downturn in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, emerged yesterday with industrial production showing a record 9.6 per cent decline last month and unemployment up by 0.5 per cent to a three-year high of 4.4 per cent. Output fell at its fastest pace since records began in 1953 and it was considerably worse than the 9 per cent consensus forecasts expected by the market and up from a previous record of 8.5 per cent a month earlier. It is particularly worrying for a country that relies heavily on global exports of cars, electronics and machinery. At the same time, the threat of deflation is looming over Japan as new data showed that the consumer price index rose by only 0.2 per cent in December, compared with a 1 per cent increase in November. Deflation held the Japanese economy in a slump for nearly a decade until 2006. The figures come as factories across Japan are shedding jobs and reducing operating times, with large companies such as Toyota and Honda being forced to suspend plants for weeks at a time. The Japanese electronics industry eliminated 27,000 jobs yesterday with NEC anouncing plans to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide and Hitachi said that it would shed 7,000 jobs after warning of a £5 billion loss this year. Kaoru Yosano, the Economics Minister, said: "I am extremely worried about industrial production. Probably such a sharp decline was never experienced and is likely to continue." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 "Japan, the world's second-largest economy" That should give larger, more populous nations an inferiority complex. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-01-31 10:52 |