Japan Industrial Production Improves 1.8% In December

(RTTNews) - Industrial output in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on month in December, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in Wednesday's preliminary report.

That missed expectations for an increase of 2.4 percent after slipping 0.9 percent in November.

On a yearly basis, industrial production was down 0.7 percent.

Industries that contributed to the increase included business-oriented machinery, chemicals and production machinery. These were offset by declines among ceramics and other manufacturing.

Upon the release of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying that it fluctuates indecisively.

Shipments added 2.5 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year, while inventories shed 1.2 percent on month and 0.2 percent on year and the inventory ratio sank 2.9 percent on month but gained 2.4 percent on year.

Industries that contributed to the increase in shipments included transport equipment, motor vehicles and business-oriented machinery - offset by declines among electronic parts and devices.

Industries that contributed to the decrease in inventories included motor vehicles, iron and steel and production n machinery - offset by gains among plastic products and communications electronics equipment.

According to the METI's forecast for industrial production, output is expected to sink 6.2 percent on month in January and gain 2.2 percent in February.

Contributing to the decrease in January are transport equipment, communications electronics equipment and production machinery.

Contributing to the increase in February are business-oriented machinery, electronic parts and communications electronics equipment.

Also on Wednesday, the METI said that the total value of retail sales in Japan was up 2.1 percent on year in December, coming in at 15.515 trillion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 4.7 percent following the 5.4 percent jump in November.

Retail sales fell 2.9 percent on month.

Commercial sales added 0.4 percent on year and 0.6 percent on month to 55.106 trillion yen, while wholesale sales fell 0.2 percent on year and climbed 2.3 percent in year to 39.591 trillion yen.

For the fourth quarter of 2023, retail sales gained 3.8 percent on year but shed 1.7 percent on quarter at 42.989 trillion yen. For all of 2023, retail sales climbed 5.6 percent to 162.996 trillion yen.