Japan: Economic releases disappoint - BBH

Analysts at BBH explain that Japanese unemployment unexpectedly ticked up to 2.8% from 2.7% as it appears to have been driven by people leaving jobs, which in this context is a sign of tightness in the labor market.  

Key Quotes

“Jobs-to-applicants rose to a new high of 1.59 from 1.56.  On the other hand, overall household spending was poor.  In December, it stood at -0.1% year-over-year.  The median in the Bloomberg survey was for a 1.3% rise after 1.8% in November.  Retail sales held up better, rising 0.9% rather than fall by 0.4% as the median had forecast.”