HONG KONG (dpa-AFX) - Japan will release a batch of data on Friday, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are January numbers for unemployment and household spending, plus February figures for monetary base and Tokyo inflation.
The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 2.8 percent, while the job-to-applicant ratio is expected to tick up to 1.60 from 1.59. Household spending is expected to sink 0.4 percent on year after easing 0.1 percent in December.
The monetary base was up 9.7 percent on year in January, while overall Tokyo inflation is expected to rise 1.4 percent on year from 1.3 percent a month earlier.
Hong Kong will see January data for retail sales; in December, sales were up 4.3 percent on year.
South Korea will release January numbers for industrial production and retail sales. In December, output was down 0.7 percent on month and 6.6 percent on year, while retail sales fell 4.0 percent on month and gained 2.2 percent on year.
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