Indexes of Business Conditions shows Japan maintaining slow recovery
Japan's economy is continuing to slowly move away from its downturn, according to the Indexes of Business Conditions released by the cabinet office on Tuesday, which said conditions were "improving."
Preliminary figures showed that the coincident index rose by 1.1 points in October to 94.3, where statistics from 2005 are equal to 100. It is the seventh consecutive month in which the coincident index has posted a rise.
The index, which compiles data from a number of measures, showed that the job market is picking up, with 528,968 people, excluding graduates, receiving new job offers in October. The figure is up from 523,344 people in September, and the second consecutive month that the nation has seen the figure rise.
Consumer confidence also posted an increase of 0.1 percent to 40.8, moving upward for the ninth consecutive month.
The index of nonscheduled work hours also increased from 74.2 to 75.8, indicating that employees are being asked to do more overtime to cope with additional demand.
Industrial production in mining and manufacturing grew from 85.7 to 86.1, demonstrating that secondary industries in Japan are continuing to recover.
The unemployment rate also fell from 5.32 percent to 5.1 percent, continuing a steady decline after hitting a high of 5.69 percent in July.
The report also showed that the leading index had risen from 87.5 to 89.7, and the lagging index had grown by 1.7 points to 84.8.
Japan has seen its economy slide since last year, when the credit crisis that originated in the United States reached its shores. In recent months, the economy has showed signs of recovery, and on Tuesday the government of the Democratic Party of Japan unveiled a new 7.2 trillion yen stimulus package to try to calm fears that the nation may be heading for a double-dip recession.