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Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japan headed for its worst postwar recession as factory production slumped an unprecedented 9.6 percent, NEC Corp. said it will cut more than 20,000 workers and Hitachi Ltd. forecast a record loss.
The December drop in output eclipsed the previous record of 8.5 percent set only a month earlier, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. NEC, Japan’s biggest personal-computer maker, forecast its first loss in three years.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 10 percent this month, extending last year’s record 42 percent drop as the global recession smothered demand for Japanese cars and electronics. Mounting losses forced companies to fire workers in December, spurring the biggest jump in the unemployment rate in 41 years.
“Japan’s economy is falling off a cliff,â€