Japan’s industrial output grew by 0.6% in April, marking growth for the first time in two months. The figures are better than expected by the analysts of 0.2%. In March, the indicator grew by 0.6%.

The factory and mining index reached 102.8 points against the base of 100 points in 2015.

Manufacturers surveyed by the ministry of economy, trade, and industry expect industrial production to jump to 5.6% in May, and then drop to 4.2% in June.

The Industrial Supply Index increased by 1.7% to 102.6 points in April compared to the previous month and the Industrial Inventory Index remained unchanged at 103.8 points.

Unemployment in Japan declined to 2.4% in April, down from 2.5% in March.

The number of employees last month increased by 0.6% on an annual basis to 67.08 million people.

At the same time, vacancies, calculated as a ratio of the offered positions to the number of job seekers, remained unchanged at 1.63 in April. This figure indicates a serious shortage of labor in one of the world’s fastest aging countries.