TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s industrial output rose for the sixth straight month in November as a sign of a gradual recovery in factory activity, despite a recent recovery in COVID-19 infections influencing the scene, a Reuters poll showed Friday.
Trade ministry data due at 8:50 am on Monday (2350 GMT Sunday) appears to show that factory output rose 1.2% in November from the previous month, slowing from profit 3.9% in October, a Reuters poll of 17 economists showed.
Japan’s factory output has been recovering from a pandemic-related decline earlier this year, boosted by global demand for cars and IT-related goods as well as capital goods, but said some analysts were unsure of the outlook.
Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, said that new viral diseases in Europe and America have halted economic activity there.
U.S. car sales are slowing and China’s economic recovery to its pre-pandemic growth path has run its course, capping Japan’s factory output, he said.
“Thus, Japan’s factory activity can be seen in December and January,” he said.
The world’s third-largest economy has bounced back from a second-quarter deep decline driven by COVID, fueled by rising exports and a rise in private sector spending.
However, analysts are concerned that recent recovery in coronavirus infections in Japan and elsewhere may hold back a relatively small amount.
Reciting with Tetsushi Kajimoto; Edited by Edmund Klamann