RIYADH: The unemployment rate in Japan remained unchanged for the third consecutive month at 2.8 percent in September, data from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
Meanwhile, Japan’s industrial production fell on a monthly basis by 5.4 percent in September, continuing its trend of decline, a flash estimate by the country’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry revealed. This is the third month in a row in which industrial output slipped.
This was driven by a rise of delta variant infections across the country and persistent supply chain disruptions. Production of motor vehicles experienced the largest decline, slumping by 28.2 percent. Production of general-purpose and business-oriented machinery also decreased, falling by 5.7 percent.
As for the country’s consumer confidence, Japanese people had a favorable outlook as the index grew by 1.4 points to 39.2 in October, Japan’s Cabinet Office said.
This is the highest reading since May 2019 as expectations about income growth and employment perceptions improved. On the other hand, outlook for overall livelihood and willingness to buy durable goods became more pessimistic.
Euro zone’s growth
On a quarterly basis, the euro zone experienced a growth of 2.2 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to a similar 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, a preliminary estimate by Eurostat revealed.
High domestic spending and exports contributed to the expansion while inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions and shortfalls in raw materials hit the brakes on the economy’s rebound.
France underwent the strongest growth, expanding by 3 percent followed by Spain and Italy which grew by 2.6 percent and 2 percent respectively.
In annual terms, economic activity in the region jumped by 3.7 percent.
In addition, the zone’s annual inflation rate rose to 4.1 percent in October, up from 3.4 percent in the previous month, according to an official preliminary estimate. Costs of energy and services experienced the highest jumps.
China’s manufacturing sector
China’s NBS Manufacturing PMI went down to 49.2 in October, compared to 49.6 in the previous month, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said.
Declines in output, new orders and export sales were mainly responsible for the second consecutive monthly contraction. Delta variants cases, larger costs of materials and power shortages helped fuel some of this downward movement.
North American economies
The Mexican economy contracted by a 0.2 percent quarterly rate in this year’s third quarter, down from a growth rate of 1.5 percent in the previous quarter.
Economic restriction pushed the services output down while the agriculture and industry sectors expanded by 0.7 percent.
Additionally, Mexico’s GDP grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2021, after a record 19.6 percent growth rate in the previous quarter due to last year’s low base effects.
Meanwhile, Canada’s GDP advanced 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in August, after a negative growth rate of 0.1 percent in the prior month, data from Statistics Canada showed.
This was partly driven by the relieving of public health restrictions and the reopening of activities across the country. Output of accommodation services underwent the highest increase, growing by 11.3 percent.