Japan retail sales rose 2.6% yoy in November, below expectation of 3.8% yoy. The growth rate slowed from 4.4% in October and 4.8% in September. Nonetheless, that’s still the ninth straight month of expansion.
Released separately, unemployment rate fell from 2.6% to 2.5% in November, better than expectation of 2.6%. The jobs-to-applicants ratio was unchanged from October’s 1.35. This gauge of job availability stayed at the highest level since march 2020.
