Japan October Exports 18.6% Up On Year

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Japanese exports rose 18.6% from a year earlier in October to Y6.105 trillion, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday, marking the eighth straight month of expansion. The increase in the value of merchandise exports was better than a median forecast of a 17.3% rise by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal In September, exports rose 11.5% on year Japan's trade deficit almost doubled to Y1.091 trillion, compared with a Y556.2 billion deficit in the same month of the previous year The figure marked the 16th consecutive month in which Japan ran a trade shortfall, the longest string of monthly deficits on record The volume of exports to the rest of the world, often seen as a better gauge of Japan's trade performance, climbed 4.4% from a year earlier in October, the first rise in two months, according to the data In the previous month the volume decreased 1.8%