Point Drop: Cabinet Office and Headline Figure

point drop: The office maintained its assessment that the economy is worsening, using the most pessimistic expression for the ninth consecutive month, according to The Japan Times. The state of emergency was first declared on April 7 for Tokyo, Osaka and five other areas and was expanded to cover the entire nation about a week later. The Cabinet Office's coincident index of business conditions for the reporting month fell 7.3 points from March to 81.5 against the 2015 base of 100, the sharpest decline since the government began releasing comparable figures in January 1985. ; The headline figure sank for the third consecutive month, following a 4.9-point drop in March. Authorities asked people to refrain from going out and businesses to suspend operations. I believe manufacturers lagged in procuring parts to be used for their products as supply chains were disrupted due to the pandemic, and factories were forced to suspend their operations, which caused the negative effects, the official said. A government official told reporters that the index was most influenced by poor shipments of durable consumer goods such as cars and motorcycles, while demand for steel and other products weakened considerably. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.