Japan reported that industrial production rose 4.0% in December. This was much better than analyst expectations of a rise of 2.8%. This follows a 2.7% drop in November and is a positive sign for the Japanese economy. Japanese manufacturers have been struggling to get production back to pre-earthquake levels. The 2011 March earthquake devastated supply chains for the nations industries. Also, Japanese household spending rose 0.5% in December. On the downside, the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.6% in December from 4.5% in November. This was worse than analyst expectations who had expected the unemployment rate to stay at 4.5%. Despite the weakness in the Japanese economy, the USDJPY has fallen in the past several days. Read more