Japanese production suffers record fall

Japanese production suffers record fall Japanese factory output suffered a record decline in March as the devastating tsunami crippled supply chains across the world’s third-largest economy.

The government said production plummeted 15.3 per cent in March from February, the biggest decline since records began in 1953, and worse than analysts had expected. Household spending dropped 8.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Kaoru Yosano, the economy minister, described the production figure as a “stunning statistic”, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

But Mr Yosano said the supply chain recovery – “a matter of life and death” – would be faster than expected because companies were “working day and night” to recover.
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/YHU6ZE/40OA1R/S3Q6ZH/RNEYA8/PJ/h?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=28