Japan's Unemployment Rate Rises to 3.8%, Inflation Firm at 3.3%

Hiruki Nakamura
29 Aug, 2014
New York City

Stocks in Japan closed lower and the Topix declined 0.6% in the week and fell 0.9% in August. The yen slipped. Unemployment rate in July increased to 3.8%, core consumer price index was unchanged at 3.3% and industrial production declined 0.2%.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Japan closed lower and the Topix declined 0.6% in the week and fell 0.9% in August. The yen slipped. Unemployment rate in July increased to 3.8%, core consumer price index was unchanged at 3.3% and industrial production declined 0.2%.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and the broad Topix index fell in August as fighting escalated in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said industrial production in July increased 0.2% on a monthly basis after declining 3.4% in June. On a yearly basis, industrial production dropped 0.9%.

In a separate report the department said retail sales in July jumped 0.5% to 11.81 trillion yen followed by 0.6% contraction in June. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis retail sales dropped 0.5% after gaining 0.5% in June.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July was at 3.8% missing expectations for 3.7%.

Separately, the ministry said average of household spending in July plunged 5.9% to 280,293 yen following 3% contraction in June.

In a separate report agency said core consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 3.3% in July, unchanged from June.

Inflation for Tokyo a leading indicator for nationwide trend jumped 2.8% in August from a year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 35.27 or 0.2% to 15,424.59 and the broader Topix index slid 2.77 to 1,277.97.

For the week, Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7% and in the month dropped 1.3%.

The yen closed at 103.90 against one U.S. dollar.

Stocks in Review

Sega Sammy Holdings Inc rose 0.6% to 1,983 yen after the gaming machines maker forecasted net sales for the first-half ending on March 2015 decline 1.9% to 160 billion yen from earlier guidance of 162.2 billion yen.

Pioneer Corp slipped 1.5% to 323 yen after the electronic products and Sharp Corporation are agreed to dissolve their capital alliance in the optical disk business.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd gained 0.7% to 4,750 yen and company and Eli Lilly failed turnover $9 billion punitive-damage award.

The company said in a statement, “We continue to believe that binding legal precedent requires the judge to disregard the verdict in its entirety and grant a new trial.”

The court’s decision did not resolve one of the main points of disagreements over a request for a new trial in Terrence Allen’s case. This case was the first trial brought by the federal regulatory authorities over claims that Actos causes bladder cancer.

Takefuji Corp, the Tokyo High Court ordered Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. to pay 14.55 billion yen in damages to Takefuji, a consumer finance company.