Japan’s industrial production dropped again in May even as a nationwide state of emergency was lifted, showing the severity of the pandemic’s impact on the export-reliant manufacturing sector.
Factory output fell 8.4 percent from April, the economy ministry reported Tuesday. Production slid from the prior month for a fourth time in a row, something that hasn’t happened since 2012. The result was worse than any of the forecasts from 28 analysts. The median projection was for a 5.9 percent decline.
Tuesday’s industrial production report suggests that even as the lifting of restrictions allows Japan’s factories to restart, weak global demand means there’s less work to do.