Japan Recession Deepens as Factory Output Plunges

Japan’s manufacturers cut production by a record 10 percent in January and household spending plunged, adding to evidence the economy is in its worst recession in 60 years.

The month-on-month decline in factory output exceeded December’s record decline of 9.8 percent, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. Household spending fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest drop in more than two years.

Competition for jobs intensified as the number of positions on offer slid the most in more than 16 years. A collapse in exports is forcing companies to retrench: Toyota Motor Corp. cut output last month at the fastest pace in two decades and Advantest Corp., Japan’s biggest maker of memory- chip testers, said this week it will fire 1,200 workers.

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