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Japan's industrial output tumbles 6.2 pct on month in February

Xinhua, March 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japan's industrial output tumbled a seasonally adjusted 6.2 percent in February after rising 3.7 percent a month earlier, as exports remain strained on falling demand, the government said on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the index of output at factories and mines stood at 93.6 against the base of 100 in 2010.

The trade ministry's preliminary report also showed that shipments sank 4.6 percent from a month earlier to 93.5 and inventories edged down 0.1 percent to stand at 112.0.

Local economists noted that the latest factory output data and overall production landscape pointed to the increasing possibility that the economy is in risk of contracting again this quarter, which would mean that Japan would enter a technical recession after posting two straight quarters of shrinking GDP.

Should the economy enter a recession, it would mark the sixth quarterly contraction and the second recession since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retook office in December 2012, following an aggressive campaign and policy pledges to kickstart the economy and beat decades of deflation. Endit