Fiscal Study

Japan's demand for services rose at the fastest pace in four months as consumers returned to shops after a stormy July and factory production rebounded from earthquake-related stoppages, Bloomberg reports:

The tertiary index, a gauge of money households and businesses spend on phone calls, power and transportation, climbed 1.3 percent in August from July, when it fell a revised 0.4 percent, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 39 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1 percent gain.

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Japan's economy outperformed both the United States and the euro zone in January-March for the second straight quarter, reinforcing expectations the Bank of Japan will raise rates in August, Reuters reports:

The economy expanded by 0.8 percent in January-March from the previous quarter, revised up from an initial reading of 0.6 percent on robust growth in capital spending. The headline figure matched economists' forecasts, although consumption was revised down slightly from the initial reading.

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Posted by fiscalstudy at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spending by Japan's largest companies rose to a record in the first quarter, indicating the world's second-largest economy probably grew at a faster pace than the government initially estimated, Bloomberg reports:

Capital spending climbed 13.6 percent in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today. The pace was faster than the 10.1 percent median estimate of nine economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

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Posted by fiscalstudy at 2:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)