Factories in Japan also plummeted production in April, as China cut off coronavirus and wider supply disruptions severely affected processing companies, overshadowing the prospects for a trade-dependent economy.
Separate data showed that retail sales recorded the biggest increase of the year, as consumers increased spending after the government eased restrictions on the pandemic, withstanding pressure from higher price increases, which threaten to hurt demand.
Factory production fell 1.3% in April from a month earlier, to a sharp drop in production of products such as electronics and machinery.
It was the first drop in three months and much larger than the 0.2% drop economists expected.
The figures come a day after Toyota Motor announced lower-than-expected April production as it fell more than 9 percent year on year, with lockdowns in China exacerbating spare parts shortages.
“Japan’s production is likely to continue to stagnate in the short term as the global supply chain continues to shrink,” said an economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research.
Source: Capital
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