(RTTNews) - Japan is scheduled to release May numbers for unemployment on Tuesday, setting the pace for a modest day for Asian economic news. Japan also will provide May data for household spending, labor cash earnings, housing starts and construction orders, plus June’s small business confidence survey.

The unemployment rate is forecast at 5.2 percent, up from 5.0 percent in April, while the job-to-applicant ratio is expected to ease to 0.45 from 0.46. Household spending is predicted to fall 1.5 percent on year after the 1.3 percent annual contraction in the previous month. Labor cash earnings are called lower by 2.5 percent after the 2.7 percent fall in April. Housing starts are predicted to fall 27.7 percent on year after the 32.4 percent decline a month earlier. Construction orders had fallen 25.9 percent in April, while the small business confidence index posted a score of 34.1 in May.

South Korea is set to announce May numbers for industrial output and service industry output. Industrial output is expected to contract 8.6 percent on year after the 8.2 percent annual fall in April. Service industry output was up 1.6 percent on year in the previous month.

Thailand will provide May figures for imports, exports and trade balance, along with current account and manufacturing production. Imports are forecast to fall 34.7 percent on year after the 36.4 percent annual decline in April. Exports are called lower by 27 percent after the 25.2 percent fall in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $2.321 billion after the $619 million surplus in the previous month. The current account is forecast at $1.958 billion after coming in at $426 million in April. Manufacturing production is predicted to contract 9.3 percent on year after the 9.7 percent decline a month earlier.

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Posted in Categories: Economy, Japan, Releases.

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