Poor economic data makes Abe's job tougher

Tokyo

A RAFT of adverse official data on Japan's economy released on Friday underlined the difficulty of the task facing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he seeks to breathe new life into his Abenomics policies in the New Year following the landslide victory by his ruling coalition government in the recent snap election.

Industrial output fell unexpectedly in November compared with October - the first fall in three months - which analyst say does not bode well for Japan's chances of puling out of recession in the final quarter of 2014, while wage earners' total cash earnings declined for the first time in nine months.