Japan's industrial output rose 1.5 per cent in December from the figure for November, the Japanese government said today. But clear signs of a slowdown forced officials to downgrade their assessment of activity ahead.
A statistics ministry official Mr Shigenori Hata said: "We revised our assessment of industrial output from a rising trend to a moderately rising trend after seeing many corporations failing to achieve their output targets."
"The downgrade of the assessment was inevitable after output rose a disappointing 0.3 per cent over the October to December quarter following 1.6 per cent growth in July to September," Mr Hata said.
Production in 2000 increased 5.7 per cent over 1999 marking the second consecutive annual increase.
But businesses have slowed down in recent months and removed the sole prop to the economy as consumer spending remained moribund.
SG Securities economist Mr Shuji Shirota said: "Production activity is likely to remain subdued for a while as manufacturers face the need to adjust inventories which have been pushed above appropriate levels by a weaker-than-expected rebound in domestic demand and slowing overseas economies."
AFP