TOKYO (MNI) – The Japanese government has decided to leave its
overall assessment of the economy for December unchanged from the
previous month, repeating that the recovery is “pausing,” the Yomiuri
Shimbun newspaper reported on Saturday.

The Cabinet Office will release its latest monthly economic report
on Wednesday.

In its November report, the Cabinet Office noted recent weakness in
consumer spending and industrial production but didn’t downgrade its
overall assessment because household income is recovering and automobile
output is expected to rebound early next year.

In October, the government revised down its view for the first time
in 20 months.

The latest data showed that Japanese industrial production fell
2.0% in October from September, revised down from a preliminary 1.8%
drop and marking the fifth straight monthly decline after -1.6% in
September.

Output was dragged down by lower demand for passenger cars as well
as electronic parts and devices, as seen in preliminary data.

But looking ahead, METI’s survey of firms’ forecasts showed that
production will rebound by 1.4% m/m in November — revised down from the
1.7% rise estimated in last month’s survey — and by a further 1.5% in
December (first estimate).

Meanwhile, Japan’s unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in October from
5.0% in September, marking the first rise in four months. The October
jobless rate was still below the record high of 5.6% hit in July 2009,
but still well above the 4.2% rate seen at the start of 2009.

The monthly data indicated that there is a recovery in job
creation.

The number of payroll jobs surged by a seasonally adjusted 380,000
month-on-month, or 0.7%, to 55.03 million in October, showing the second
m/m rise, after rising 410,000 m/m in September and falling 20,000 in
August.

On an unadjusted basis, the number of employed people rose by
150,000 to 62.86 million in October, marking the second consecutive
year-on-year rise after rising 140,000 in September.

The unadjusted number of jobless workers was down by 100,000 in
October from a year earlier at 3.34 million, marking the fifth
consecutive year-on-year decline, after falling 230,000 in September.

Japan’s average household spending fell 0.4% in October from a year
earlier to Y287,433, posting the first y/y drop in five months after
being unchanged in September, as positive effects of last-minute
spending on cars and cigarettes faded.

tokyo@marketnews.com
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