英文： 10 year worn out Japanese economy gains ground Japan s economic prospects brightened on Friday as the jobless rate fell to a seven-year low and industrial production gained at a healthy pace, news that sent the stock market to its highest level in four and a half months.
Japan s economic prospects brightened on Friday as the jobless rate fell to a seven-year low and industrial production gained at a healthy pace, news that sent the stock market to its highest level in four and a half months.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent in June, its lowest level since July 1998 and a 0drop from the 4.4 percent reported in May, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Hopes are that steady improvements in the job market and resulting income growth will prompt Japanese consumers to spend more, strengthening the nation s nascent economic recovery so far sustained by exports.
"We ve been seeing some improvement in wages," said Akira Maekawa, economist at UBS Securities, "and the jobless data would advance this improvement even further."
Japan s economy has been stagnant for more than a decade, occasionally gaining steam but failing to maintain consistent growth. In the first quarter, Japan had its best quarterly growth in a year, expanding at an annual pace of 5.3 percent after contracting over the middle two quarters of 2004.
In another bright spot for the economy, the government said industrial output for June rose 1.5 percent as electronic devices and machinery makers boosted production, suggesting that Japan s corporate sector will contribute to growth. That performance was in line with economists forecasts.