Production for the October-December period grew 15.3 percent from the previous quarter, the fastest growth since 1976.

Outlays for producers' durable equipment jumped at an annual rate of 32.5 percent after declining by a small amount in the October-December period.

Sales of cigarettes by Japan Tobacco fell 4.9 percent in the October-December period, the 11th consecutive quarterly decline.

Capital investment by businesses rose by an astonishingly robust 4.6 percent in the October-December period, far better than most economists had anticipated.

Some forecasters are predicting annualized growth of more than five per cent during the October-December period.

Personal spending rose at a rate of just 1.4 percent, far below the 5.1 percent splurge in the October-December period.

The pace of announced mergers, he estimated, was down 35 percent in the October-December period from the pace early in the year.

Exports were especially weak, falling at a rate of $10.7 billion, after rising $12.4 billion in the October-December period.

Mizuho, Japan's largest bank by assets, said the amount of nonperforming loans it held rose 3.5 percent in the October-December period.

In the manufacturing sector, productivity declined at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the October-December period - the largest drop since 1981.