Japan’s industrial production rebounded 4.2% in January

Tokyo, Feb 26 (efe-epa).- Japan’s industrial production increased 4.2 percent in January compared to the previous month, its first spike in three months, according to data published Friday by the government.

The indicator, which measures the activity of the entire industry in the world’s third-largest economy, stood at 97.7 points, according to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday.

In the last month of 2020, the industrial production index had decreased by 1 percent compared to November and by 3.2 percent year-on-year.

In 2020, the indicator accumulated a fall of 10.1 percent to its minimum in the last seven years, mainly due to the weakness in the transport and machinery sectors due to the impact of the pandemic.

The sectors that contributed the most to the January rebound were general and business machinery, electronic machinery and components, and electrical machinery and communication and electronic equipment.

In contrast, the largest decreases were observed in transportation equipment and petroleum and coal products.

According to official information, shipments advanced 3.2 percent in January and inventories fell 0.2 percent. EFE-EPA

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