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Investing.com-- Japan clocked an unexpected trade deficit in September, government data showed on Wednesday, as growth in exports missed forecasts, while imports rose much more than expected.
Trade balance was a deficit of 234.6 billion yen ($1.54 billion), compared to expectations for a surplus of 22.0 billion yen. The deficit did narrow slightly from August’s 242.8 billion yen deficit.
Exports rebounded in September, but still missed expectations, rising 4.2% year-on-year against expectations of 4.6%. This was after a 0.1% drop in August.
The rebound in exports signaled some stability in Japan’s massive export industry, especially after Tokyo and Washington signed a trade deal outlining less severe tariffs on Japan.
Recent weakness in the yen also supported export values.
But September’s trade deficit was spurred chiefly by an unexpected jump in imports, which grew 3.3% y-o-y in the month against expectations for a 0.6% increase. Imports also expanded after a 5.2% drop in August.
The import data suggested that local demand was stronger than initially expected, pointing to some resilience in Japanese private spending.
Wednesday’s data comes less than a day after Japan elected its first ever female Prime Minister, hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi.