Japan Gets Mixed Economic Data for Dec
TOKYO (AP) — Japan issued mixed economic data Tuesday in government figures for jobs, spending and sales in December, and officials responded cautiously amid other signs economic growth is slowing.
Though household spending rose, beating expectations, growth in retail sales was more sluggish and the jobless rate showed no improvement.
"Japan's economy is slowing for now," Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said in parliamentary testimony, repeating the same assessment his institution issued last week.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota, meanwhile, said Japan's economy remains on a solid footing. But she stressed the need to monitor the U.S. economy — a major export market — and any moves by Washington and the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose interest rate-setting body meets later this week.
Household spending, Tuesday's brightest spot, rose 2.2 percent in December from the same period the previous year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That figure beat forecasts for a 0.2 percent decline and marked the first rise in two months.
The data suggest consumers, despite sluggish wage growth and higher energy costs, are still spending at stable levels. But analysts say risks that consumption could fall by a large margin are increasing.
The retail sales data seemed to back up that view, rising just 0.2 percent in December from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It was still the fifth straight month of increase, and came as consumer prices rose their most in nearly a decade in December.
Japan's jobless rate was flat in December for a second month running at 3.8 percent, the Internal Affairs Ministry said. The figure beat the 3.9 percent forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and the Nikkei.
The government remains bullish but cautious about conditions in the country's job market, Ota, the economy minister, told reporters after a regular Cabinet meeting.
"We haven't changed our views on the employment situation," she said. The labor market "continues improving, but its pace is slow."
The jobless rate dropped to 3.8 percent in November after registering 4.0 percent in both September and October. Analysts say the improvement pace of the employment figures may slow down ahead.
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For the full year, Japan's unemployment rate fell below the 4-percent mark for the first time since 1997, dropping to 3.9 percent, the internal affairs ministry said. That marked the fifth year in a row the figure fell, it said.
The data released Tuesday came amid other concerns about Japan's growth outlook, reflecting in part global economic uncertainties and looming fears of a possible recession in the U.S.
The economy grew at a slower pace than originally thought in the third quarter — expanding at a 1.5 percent rate instead of an earlier reported 2.6 percent — due to a downward revision in corporate capital investment.
Also, sentiment for the country's economic outlook at major companies fell to a two-year low in December in the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey of corporate executives.
Though household spending rose, beating expectations, growth in retail sales was more sluggish and the jobless rate showed no improvement.
"Japan's economy is slowing for now," Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said in parliamentary testimony, repeating the same assessment his institution issued last week.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota, meanwhile, said Japan's economy remains on a solid footing. But she stressed the need to monitor the U.S. economy — a major export market — and any moves by Washington and the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose interest rate-setting body meets later this week.
Household spending, Tuesday's brightest spot, rose 2.2 percent in December from the same period the previous year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That figure beat forecasts for a 0.2 percent decline and marked the first rise in two months.
The data suggest consumers, despite sluggish wage growth and higher energy costs, are still spending at stable levels. But analysts say risks that consumption could fall by a large margin are increasing.
The retail sales data seemed to back up that view, rising just 0.2 percent in December from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It was still the fifth straight month of increase, and came as consumer prices rose their most in nearly a decade in December.
Japan's jobless rate was flat in December for a second month running at 3.8 percent, the Internal Affairs Ministry said. The figure beat the 3.9 percent forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and the Nikkei.
The government remains bullish but cautious about conditions in the country's job market, Ota, the economy minister, told reporters after a regular Cabinet meeting.
"We haven't changed our views on the employment situation," she said. The labor market "continues improving, but its pace is slow."
The jobless rate dropped to 3.8 percent in November after registering 4.0 percent in both September and October. Analysts say the improvement pace of the employment figures may slow down ahead.
\
For the full year, Japan's unemployment rate fell below the 4-percent mark for the first time since 1997, dropping to 3.9 percent, the internal affairs ministry said. That marked the fifth year in a row the figure fell, it said.
The data released Tuesday came amid other concerns about Japan's growth outlook, reflecting in part global economic uncertainties and looming fears of a possible recession in the U.S.
The economy grew at a slower pace than originally thought in the third quarter — expanding at a 1.5 percent rate instead of an earlier reported 2.6 percent — due to a downward revision in corporate capital investment.
Also, sentiment for the country's economic outlook at major companies fell to a two-year low in December in the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey of corporate executives.
Labels: employment data, Japan
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