TOKYO—Japan’s factory output likely fell again in August as the country’s manufacturing sector faced supply chain disruptions driven by a global chip shortage and the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in Southeast Asia.
Retail sales also likely eased in August after a sharp rise in July, according to the poll, underscoring the fragility of domestic consumption and shattering policymakers’ hopes that Japan’s export-based recovery from the coronavirus pandemic would become more broad-based.
