Japan: Manufacturing not in great shape – ABN AMRO

Han de Jong, chief economist at ABN AMRO, notes that the recent Japanese data shows that the manufacturing sector there is not in great shape as the final data for March showed a modest upward revision compared to the preliminary data, but output was still down 0.6% mom and 4.3% yoy.

Key Quotes

“Japan’s Q1 GDP on the other hand, exceeded expectations growing 0.5% qoq, or 2.1% annualised.”

“The composition of growth was unimpressive and suggests that the numbers for the second quarter will be weaker. In fact, what he argued was that the Q1 data provided a unjustified flattering picture of the underlying economy.”