Asia

Japan economy's vital signs dull in March, but views upbeat

Associated Press
Published | Updated

People walk past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, April 28, 2017. Japan reports that its manufacturing output and household spending fell in March, while the jobless rate remained at a 22-year low. The data released Friday generally were slightly weaker than analysts had forecast, though the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy remained upbeat. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) (The Associated Press)

People waiting for the green light to cross the street are reflected on the electronic stock board showing global stock index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, April 28, 2017. Japan reports that its manufacturing output and household spending fell in March, while the jobless rate remained at a 22-year low. The data released Friday generally were slightly weaker than analysts had forecast, though the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy remained upbeat. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) (The Associated Press)

Newly opened shopping mall Ginza Six is crowded with shoppers in Tokyo, Friday, April 28, 2017. Japan reports that its manufacturing output and household spending fell in March, while the jobless rate remained at a 22-year low. The data released Friday generally were slightly weaker than analysts had forecast, though the outlook for the world's third-largest economy remained upbeat. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) (The Associated Press)

Japan reports that its manufacturing output and household spending fell in March, while the jobless rate remained at a 22-year low.

The data released Friday generally were slightly weaker than analysts had forecast, though the outlook for the world's third-largest economy remained upbeat.

Here are a few highlights from the data, and their implications:

FACTORY OUTPUT: Industrial output fell 2.1 percent from February but was up 3.3 percent from the same month a year earlier. But manufacturers were forecasting an 8.9 percent increase in April.

INFLATION: Core inflation, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 0.2 percent, well below the central bank's official target of 2 percent but still the third straight month of increase.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Unemployment was unchanged from February at 2.8 percent, while the number of jobs available per worker seeking work rose to 1.45, the highest rate since November 1990.

WAGES AND HOUSEHOLD SPENDING: Household spending fell 1.3 percent from the month before and 2.0 percent from March 2016, while household average incomes adjusted for inflation fell 1.1 percent from a year earlier. Anemic growth in wages and worries over future cuts to pensions and other social spending are constraining the consumer spending that drives growth in Japan.