Japan March industrial output up 3.6 percent month on month
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's industrial output rose 3.6 percent in March, rebounding from a big drop logged in the prior month, government data showed on Thursday, in a tentative sign of a pick-up in factory activity.
The result compared with the median estimate of a 2.9 percent increase in a Reuters poll of economists.
It followed a revised 5.2 percent drop in February, hurt by the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia and Toyota Motor Corp's <7203.T> temporary halting of factory output due to an explosion at a steel plant.
Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expect output to rise 2.6 percent in April and decline 2.3 percent in May.
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
