Japan factory output up 1.0 percent in September

People walk past an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo ,Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. AP PHOTO

TOKYO, Japan—Japan’s factory output rose 1.0 percent in September, bouncing back from the previous month thanks to brisk production of electronics devices and chemical products, official data showed on Thursday.

The reading, which was stronger than market forecasts for a 0.5 percent fall, came after Japan’s industrial production dropped a revised 1.2 percent in August.

The figures come after a raft of weak data from the work’s third-largest economy that had put pressure on the Bank of Japan to ramp up its huge stimulus programme to counter the downturn.

Manufacturers also expect factory output to surge another 4.1 percent in October, due to the pick up in production of electronics and chemicals, before shrinking 0.3 percent in November.

Japan’s economy contracted in the second quarter due to a slowdown in key trading partner China, weak consumer spending at home and soft exports.

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