Japan’s growth in industrial output slowed.

Industrial and mining production was up 5.2% last month from a year earlier, the slowest pace in a year and a half, the government reported. The growth rate was down from 5.8% in February and was the most sluggish since July 1983, when it registered 2.2%. Economists said a recent downward trend in exports had started cutting into output. Economists said, however, that the economy was continuing to expand steadily.