The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan released preliminary data on industrial production for December early on Friday morning, which showed a contraction in the country's industrial output, contrary to expectations.
According to the data, Japan experienced a contraction of 0.2% in the month-on-month growth rate of industrial production in December, compared to November, while markets had anticipated a growth of 0.3%, after recording a growth of 0.3% in the previous month of November.
On a year-on-year basis, the data indicated a growth of 1.6% in Japan's industrial production during December compared to the same month of the previous year, which was an improvement over the previous reading in November that showed a contraction of 1.1% in Japan's industrial production.
It is noteworthy that industrial production is a key indicator of economic health in Japan as it reacts quickly to the ups and downs of the business cycle and is linked to consumer conditions such as employment levels and profits.
