国际英语新闻：Japan's industrial output falls 1.9% in September

TOKYO, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's industrial output dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in September from a month earlier, the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report on Friday.

The headline reading was well below economists' expectations of a 0.6 percent decline, and marks the fourth straight month-on- month decline, as waning demand for Japanese goods from developing economies and a strong yen has adversely affected exports and is hampering the pace of Japan's recovery, said the report.

The index of output at factories and mines stood at 92.5 against the base of 100 for 2005, the ministry said. And the index of industrial shipments fell 0.7 percent to 95.0.

The index of industrial inventories was up 0.2 percent to 97.7.

On an annual basis, industrial output was up 11.1 percent, but that also missed expectations for a 12.3 percent increase following the 15.1 percent gain logged in the previous month.

For the third quarter of 2010, industrial production was down 1. 9 percent compared to the previous three months.