The latest result followed a 6.7% drop a month earlier, the steepest drop since May 2020.
On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 3.4% in February, the fourth consecutive month of contraction and the strongest pace of the sequence.
Retail sales in Japan rose 4.6% y/y in February 2024, accelerating from January’s downwardly revised 2.1% gain and beating market expectations for 3% growth.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose 1.5% in February, accelerating from January’s downwardly revised 0.2% gain.
Meanwhile, unemployment in Japan stood at 2.6% in February 2024, compared to market forecasts and January’s figure of 2.4%. This is the highest level since last September. The jobs-to-applications ratio fell to 1.26 in February, the lowest level since May 2022.
Investors are also closely monitoring currency movements amid fears that the yen’s recent slide to 34-year lows could prompt another intervention by Japanese authorities.
The Nikkei 225 (NKY:IND) rose 0.5% to above 40,300 on Friday, recouping some losses from the previous session.