Japan factory productivity slumps; jobless level rises to 2.9%
30 June, 2020
Japan’s industrial end result fell for a 4th straight month in May to the cheapest level because the global financial crisis, highlighting the widespread impact of the coronavirus on factory and overall business and consumer activity.
The world’s third-most significant economy is bracing because of its worst postwar recession, hurt by coronavirus lockdown measures in the home and overseas that have upended supply chains, kept businesses shut and depressed consumer spending.
Ministry of Overall economy, Trade and Industry info from Tuesday showed that factory end result fell 8.4% month-on-month in-may to 79.1, an even not found since March 2009 when the financial meltdown sapped global demand.
The slump followed a 9.8% decline in the previous month, and was much bigger compared to the median market forecast of a 5.6% drop in a Reuters poll of economists.
Companies surveyed by the Ministry of Overall economy, Trade and Sector (METI) expect output to go up 5.7% in June and 9.2% in July, the data showed.
The government kept its assessment of commercial production unchanged to say it was “lowering sharply”, the bleakest official view since the global financial meltdown in late 2008.
Japan’s overall economy shrank an annualised 2.2% in January-March, slipping into recession for the very first time in 4-1/2 years, and analysts expect medical crisis to possess driven a deeper slump in today's quarter.
Meanwhile, the country's jobless fee rose and the availability of jobs fell found in Ma.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.9% in-may, up from 2.6% in April, figures from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications confirmed. The median forecast was 2.8%.
The jobs-to-applicants ratio fell to 1 1.20 in May from 1.32 found in April, marking the cheapest reading since July 2015, labour ministry data showed.
Source: japantoday.com
TAG(s):