Japan’s industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.3 per cent in February from the previous month for the first decline in three months, the Government said on Monday.
The figure was worse than the 0.3-per-cent increase predicted by analysts surveyed by the Nikkei business daily, following a 3.8-per-cent rise in January.
Despite the fall, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry maintained its basic assessment, saying “industrial production continues to show an upward movement’’. The index of production at factories and mines stood at 101.5 against a 2005 baseline of 100, the Ministry said.
Transport equipment, general-purpose, production and business-oriented machinery, and information and communication electronics equipment industries contributed to the bulk of the fall in February, it said.
Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry expected industrial output to rise 0.9 per cent in March and fall 0.6 per cent in April.
The index of industrial shipments declined 1 per cent in February from the previous month to 103.9, and that of industrial inventories edged down 0.8 per cent to 103.8, the Ministry said.