Japan’s Industrial Output Declines Further

Japan’s industrial output declined in May for a third straight month, government data showed, underscoring the view that the world’s second-largest economy is flirting with a recession.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said industrial output fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in May from the previous month, even after a 2% drop in April. That was worse than a median forecast of a 0.4% fall in a Reuters survey of 18 economists last week.

The latest drop has brought down the output index to 98.5, its lowest since April 1999--just after the 1997-98 global financial crisis. The index compares output levels with the 1995 average, which is considered as 100.

Industrial production, once a beacon of hope for Japan’s fragile economy last year, has started to decline this year as exports began to suffer amid a global economic slowdown, especially in the United States.