Japan Data Response CPI & Retail Sales (Apr.) Japanese consumer price inflation increased in April, rising at its fastest rate in two years. Higher utility and gasoline prices helped push the all items rate of inflation into positive territory... 27th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response GDP (Q1) The further contraction in GDP in Q1 confirms that Japan is now in recession and we expect the decline in Q2 to be even bigger. The economy was weak before the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on 11... 19th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Apr.) The index of consumer confidence declined further in April as households’ assessment of conditions over the next six months darkened. April’s fall was even larger than the one seen in March, and... 16th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Economy Watchers' Survey & Bank Lending (Apr.) Respondents to Japan’s Economy Watchers Survey are not as pessimistic about the outlook as they were immediately after the disaster in March, but confidence is still relatively low and there is no... 12th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Retail Sales (Mar.) Japanese retail sales plunged in March as consumers reined in spending following the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Despite a strong start to the quarter, sales fell at an annualised rate of 1.3%... 27th April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response SME Confidence (Apr.) The Shoko Chukin survey of small business conditions in April was released a day earlier than expected, and the results were even worse than projected. The earthquake has clearly taken a heavy toll on... 26th April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Mar.) Consumer confidence held up surprisingly well in March, dipping lower after the earthquake but not by as much as might have been expected. Other indicators, such as the Economy Watchers’ Survey (EWS)... 19th April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Economy Watchers' Survey (Mar.) Today’s retail sales and unemployment data for February were better than expected and small business confidence was high in early March. These figures pre-date the full impact of the earthquake that... 8th April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Services PMI (Mar.) The slump in the services PMI in March, following the collapse in the equivalent manufacturing series, all but confirms that Japan's economy contracted for a second successive quarter in the first... 5th April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Tankan Survey (Q1) The first results from the Bank of Japan's March Tankan survey of business conditions, released today, are not much use because we do not yet have a split between pre- and post-quake responses. The... 1st April 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Manufacturing PMI (Mar.) Japan’s manufacturing PMI index is the first business survey to reflect the impact of the Tohoku Pacific Ocean Earthquake. The results were not quite as awful as many had feared but they were still... 31st March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Industrial Production (Feb.) Japanese industrial output edged up in February, but will have collapsed in March. Production could easily fall by 10% in just one month in the wake of the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean earthquake, which alone... 30th March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Unemployment, Retail Sales (Feb.) & Small Business Confidence (Mar.) Today’s retail sales and unemployment data for February were better than expected and small business confidence was high in early March. These figures pre-date the full impact of the earthquake that... 29th March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Machinery Orders (Jan.) January's machinery orders data are consistent with only a feeble recovery in investment this year. Admittedly it is early days, but the bulk of the data on capital spending suggest that momentum in... 9th March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Economy Watchers Survey (Feb.) The current conditions component of February's Economy Watchers Survey (EWS) was even more upbeat than the improvement signalled by the outlook in the previous month. However, the forward-looking... 8th March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Unemployment (Jan.) The unemployment rate remained relatively high (by Japanese standards) at 4.9% in January. The forward-looking labour market indicators are mostly improving, including vacancies, but employment and... 1st March 2011 · 1 min read
