Japan March industrial output up 3.6% month on month

[TOKYO] Japan's industrial output rose 3.6 per cent in March, rebounding from a big drop logged in the prior month, government data showed on Thursday, in a tentative sign of a pick-up in factory activity.

The result compared with the median estimate of a 2.9 per cent increase in a Reuters poll of economists.

It followed a revised 5.2 per cent drop in February, hurt by the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia and Toyota Motor Corp's temporary halting of factory output due to an explosion at a steel plant.

Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect output to rise 2.6 per cent in April and decline 2.3 per cent in May.

REUTERS