"The trend is taking hold and there is a greater possibility the economy is in recession, judging from the coincident index"
- Japanese Cabinet Office
Japanese both leading and coincident indices dropped in November, adding to fear the economy will not emerge from its recession in the final quarter of 2012. According to the report made by the Cabinet Office, the leading index, which is designed to predict the direction of the economy in the next six months, tumbled to 91.9 in November, down from 92.8 in October. At the same time, the coincident index, which measures the current economic activity in the country slipped to 90.1 from 90.7 a month ago, while the lagging index came in at 86.5, down October's 86.8. It is widely expected that the world's third largest economy will remain weak in the next several months, as investors are not showing their willingness to invest into Japanese economy.
"The trend is taking hold and there is a greater possibility the economy is in recession, judging from the coincident index," a Cabinet Office official told reporters.
"There have been signs of the economy bottoming out," Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. "It would not be surprising to see the decline in the coincident index coming to a halt in the near term."
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