Japan's industrial production falls 0.7% in August

Japan's industrial production fell 0.7% in August from the previous month due to sluggish domestic demand in some sectors, data by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry showed Monday. But the ministry maintained its basic assessment of production in the preliminary report that it has shown signs of picking up at a moderate pace, according to (Kyodo) news agency. "A 0.7% drop is not a small decline on a single month basis, but it was not large enough to downgrade our assessment," a METI official said, while not mentioning whether the reading might affect the government's plan to decide at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to raise the sales tax next April.