Tokyo, Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's industrial production in January rose more than economists expected, snapping a four- month decline, helped by rising output at the domestic plants of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other automakers. Production last month rose 1.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey expected output to rise 1 percent. From a year earlier, production gained 6.8 percent. The gains in production may not last as exports, which propelled Japan's 0.5 percent economic growth in the fourth quarter, have slumped for two straight months to January. ``Production is in trouble with exports falling,'' said Takeshi Minami, a senior economist at UFJ Capital Market Securities, before today's numbers were released. ``More importantly is that corporate restructuring is still continuing and that's pinching workers' salaries and adding to deflation.''
The government predicted industrial output will fall 0.4 percent in February and gain 0.6 percent in March. Inventories held by companies in Japan rose 0.8 percent from December, while shipments rose 2.6 percent. Toyota and other Japanese automakers increased domestic output by 9.1 percent last month on rising demand for new models both at home and overseas.
Jobs, Spending
Separate government reports out today showed the country's jobless rate returned to a record last month, while spending rose. Japan's unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent in January from a revised 5.3 percent in December, the government's statistics bureau said, as companies trimmed their workforce to reduce costs. Last month's unemployment rate was expected to remain at the record 5.5 percent level for December initially reported by the government, according to the median forecast of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Japan may sink back into its fourth recession in a decade this year as sagging global growth dims demand for exports, economists said. ``The jobless rate is seen going up amid corporate restructuring and the job market outlook is getting increasingly worse,'' said Eishi Yokoyama, an economist at AIG Global Investment Corp., before today's numbers were released. ``There's no reason why spending should start picking up anytime soon, especially when incomes are falling at this pace.'' Spending by salaried workers rose a seasonally adjusted 3.6 percent in January from December. The spending tally fell 2.0 percent from a year ago. //www.quote.bloomberg.com/