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TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's factory output shrank at the fastest pace in eight months in January as declining overseas demand took a heavy toll on key industries such as automakers and the semiconductor equipment sector.
Factory output fell 4.6% in January from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, government data showed on Tuesday. The contraction was much larger than economists' median forecast of a 2.6% decline and followed an upwardly-revised 0.3% increase in December.
It marked the fastest decrease since May 2022's 7.5% fall, when China's COVID-19 lockdown disrupted Japanese manufacturers' supply chains.
Output of auto products slumped 10.1%, dragging the overall index lower while manufacturing of items such as production machinery and electronic parts dropped 13.5% and 4.2%, respectively.
Semiconductor-making equipment was down 26.8% as chip firms slowed their capital expenditure, while passenger cars fell 7.4% due in part to component supply bottleneck caused by heavy snow across Japan, a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) official told reporters.
The United States-led export control of chip equipment against China "has not had an immediate effect" on Japanese industrial production in January, the official added.
Manufacturers surveyed by METI expect output to rise 8.0% in February and gain 0.7% in March, the data also showed, although the official poll tends to report an optimistic outlook.
Separate data showed Japanese retail sales rose 6.3% in January from a year earlier, beating a median market forecast for a 4.0% gain and posting an eleventh consecutive month of expansion. It also logged the fastest growth since May 2021.
Compared with the previous month, retail sales expanded 1.9% in January, following a 1.1% rise in December, the data showed.
Japan's economy, the world's third-largest, is expected to post an annualised 1.4% expansion in January-March according to a Reuters poll, after weaker-than-expected 0.6% growth in the final quarter of 2022.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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February 28, 2023 at 08:00AM
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Japan's factory output posts biggest fall in 8 months on weak autos, chips sectors - Reuters
"Factory" - Google News
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