Whether you are looking at the consumption or production side, in the West or in the East, there is ample evidence that the global economy remains strong.
Reuters reports Japan's November industrial production and retail sales.
Japanese industrial production grew for the fourth straight month in November while retail sales rose year-on-year, data showed on Wednesday, the latest in a string of upbeat figures underscoring a strong economic growth cycle.
Industrial output rose 1.4 percent in November from a month earlier. While that fell short of the market's median forecast of 1.8 percent growth, economists said it still underscored healthy business activity.
The gain followed rises of 0.6 percent in October and 0.4 percent in September...
The output index rose to 103.5, the highest since current calculation methods began seven years ago...
Manufacturers' output, the core component of production, is expected to rise 4.7 percent in December before retreating 2.0 percent in January, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed...
Separate data released on Wednesday showed sales at large-scale retail stores rose 0.8 percent year-on-year on a same-store basis, the first rise in 21 months.
All-store retail sales rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, less than the consensus forecast of 0.8 percent growth, but overall commercial sales, including wholesale, rose a healthy 3.9 percent...
In a sign of more improvement ahead in consumer sentiment, separate data showed wage earners' average overtime pay rose in November from a year earlier for the 40th month in a row.
Overtime pay, a barometer of income conditions, rose 0.8 percent from the same month last year to 19,792 yen ($170). In October, overtime pay rose 2.0 percent year-on-year, revised up from an initial estimate of a 0.1 percent decline.
Bloomberg reports strong growth in industrial production in South Korea as well.
South Korea's industrial production posted its biggest increase in more than six years in November, boosted by record exports and an increase in consumer spending.
Factory output gained a seasonally adjusted 5 percent from October, after increasing a revised 1.1 percent in the previous month, the National Statistical Office said in a report from Gwacheon, South Korea. That was more than the median forecast of a 0.9 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey of five economists...
South Korea's government said yesterday economic growth will accelerate to 5 percent in 2006, from an estimated 3.9 percent this year. Private spending will rise 4.5 percent next year, from an estimated 3.1 percent in 2005, it said...
Industrial output climbed 12.2 percent in November from a year earlier, following an 8.2 percent increase in October, the statistical office said...
Exports rose a revised 12 percent to a record $25.9 billion in November, the commerce ministry said. A central bank survey released earlier today showed South Korean manufacturers' confidence rose for the third month in five as orders are expected to increase from domestic and overseas customers, based on a survey of 1,424 companies last month.
And it is a similar picture in Singapore, where manufacturing output in November rose 22.4 percent from the same month last year and 1.5 percent from October, and non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 14 percent in November from a year ago. Less optimistically, though, compared to the previous month, November NODX declined 0.6 percent while non-oil retained imports of intermediate goods fell 13 percent.
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