Japan industrial production rose 6.2% mom in June, above expectation of 5.0% mom. Output also revised much of the -6.5% mom decline in May. Manufacturers expected production to fall -1.1% mom in July and then rise 1.7% in August.
A government official said, “we are continuing to see the impact of the global chip shortage but it’s moderating somewhat, mainly for automakers… But manufacturers’ August output plan may not fully reflect the impact of the spread of new COVID-19 variants on global and domestic economies, as well as the risk of a prolonged chip shortage.”
Also released, unemployment rate ticked down to 2.9% in June, down from 3.0%. Retail sales rose 0.1% yoy in May, slightly below expectation of 0.2% yoy.
