Japanese industrial output rose more than expected in July and the number of people with jobs increased, but household spending and retail sales slid.
Production in Japan's factories, mills and refineries rose 0.5 per cent in July compared with June on a seasonally adjusted basis, the government said today.
That beat a median forecast of a 0.2 per cent gain in a Reuters survey of economists, and prompted the government to upgrade its view on industrial output for the first time in a year.
The government forecast that manufacturers' output - a key component and close proxy of industrial production - would rise per cent in August and 1.5 per cent in September.
"Industrial production is on a flattening trend," the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement, revising its previous view that it was "on a weak trend".