©Reuters.
Investing.com — Japan's retail sales beat expectations in January on increased year-end shopping as consumers shunned sustained pressure from high inflation.
However, Japan's industrial production contracted more than expected, mainly due to the economic slowdown. Toyota Motors Co., Ltd. (NYSE:) (TYO:) has halted car production following the suspension of all sales of Daihatsu's compact car division due to a safety scandal.
Official data on Thursday showed that prices rose 2.3% in January compared to the same month last year. The figure was above expectations of 2%, but was slightly slower than December's 2.4% increase.
This figure was primarily due to higher sales due to increased demand during the year-end holidays for department stores and discount stores.
Japan's retail sales have increased for the 22nd straight month, showing that some aspects of consumption remain strong despite pressure from high inflation and a weaker yen.
However, the pace of retail sales growth has slowed in recent months.
On the other hand, the Japanese population decreased by 7.5% from the previous month in January, exceeding the expected 6.7% decrease and worse than the 1.4% increase in the previous month.
Automobile giant Toyota has halted all production at its Daihatsu division, a small automaker, after the unit was found to have falsified safety tests for nearly 40 years.
