Japan Nov factory output falls 0.9% month-on-month

FILE PHOTO: A worker checks machinery at a factory in Higashiosaka, Japan June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Sakura Murakami/File photo

TOKYO  -Japan’s factory output fell 0.9 percent in November from the previous month, compared with the median market forecast for a 1.6-percent drop, data showed on Thursday.

Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect seasonally adjusted output to increase 6 percent in December and decline 7.2 percent in January.

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Other data showed Japanese retail sales expanded 5.3 percent in November from a year earlier. That was roughly in line with the median market forecast for a 5-percent gain and marked the 21st consecutive month of expansion since March 2022.

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Compared with the previous month, retail sales grew 1 percent in November, following a 1.7 percent decline in October, the data showed.