Japanese industrial output rose 1.4 per cent in August from July, revised down from a preliminary 1.6 per cent gain, suggesting an export-driven manufacturing recovery was weakening but not yet out of steam.
Output at Japan's factories, energy refineries and mines has climbed for two straight months and was up for six of the first eight months of the year, but economists expect production to weaken as Japan's top export market, the United States, cools.
JP Morgan economist Mr Ryo Hino said today's report implied a 10 per cent rise in factory output in the July-September quarter from the previous quarter -- down from 10.3 per cent as suggested in the government's preliminary report on September 30th.
That initial report jolted financial markets which had expected a more robust output rise of around 3.0 per cent in August from the previous month.
Economists said the sharpest downward revisions came in plastic products, electrical machinery and metal products.
A rebound in exports since late last year, fuelled by a global economic recovery and a weak yen, had propelled factory production this year, helping to pull the world's second-largest economy out of its longest and deepest post-war recession.
Today's report showed production still firm, led by cars, electrical machinery and high-tech products such as computer memory chips.