JAPAN

Industrial Output Plummets: Japan’s industrial output in August has been revised downward to the largest monthly decline on record, news that could push the Bank of Japan to cut interest rates. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry said industrial production in August dropped 4.2% from July. The figure was revised from a preliminary decline of 3.7%. Industrial output did not fall as much even in the darkest months of the oil shock in the 1970s. The figure is further evidence that even mighty Japan has fallen into a recession, like its rivals in Europe and North America.