Posted on 31 Jul 2013
Japan's industrial output fell by a sharper-than-expected 3.3% on-month in June, government data showed Tuesday, underscoring the challenge Tokyo faces in kickstarting the nation's economy.
The latest reading was worse than a contraction of 1.7% that economists had expected on average in a survey by the Nikkei business daily.
In separate figures released Tuesday, household spending last month slipped 0.4% from a year earlier, despite expectations of a rise as consumer prices went up for the first time in more than a year.
In one bright spot, Japan's jobless rate fell to 3.9% in June to the lowest point in more than four years, official data showed.
The unemployment rate fell from 4.1% in May to 3.9%, the best reading since 3.8% posted in October 2008, according to the Internal Affairs Ministry.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to kickstart Japan's deflation-plagued economy, unleashing a growth-boosting effort dubbed Abenomics, including massive government spending and central bank monetary easing
