Tokyo - Japan's industrial output in March marked the first growth in six months, thanks to increased production in the high-tech and machinery sectors, the government said Thursday.

The March output rose 1.6 per cent in seasonally-adjusted terms, following a 9.4-per-cent drop in February and a record 10.2-per-cent fall in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report.

Berlin - German unemployment edged up again in April, official data released Thursday is forecast to show, amid expectations that the nation faces a surge in the numbers out of work as global recession hits the jobs market in Europe's biggest economy.

Analysts expect the Federal Labour Agency will say seasonally adjusted unemployment, which reflects overall trends in the job market, climbed by another 60,000 this month after rising 69,000 in March.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 4 per cent Thursday on March industrial output data and optimism over a possible US economic recovery.

The Nikkei index surged 339.87 points, or 4 per cent, to close morning trading at 8,833.64, and the broader Topix index of all first-section issues also rose 29.05 points, or 3.6 per cent, to 841.04.

Investors returned from a national holiday Thursday to buy a wide range of issues after the nation's industrial production data for March came out stronger than expected.

Washington - US President Barack Obama called on Chrysler LLC bondholders to make sacrifices in order to keep the nation's third-largest carmaker from filing for bankruptcy.

Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in Arnold, Missouri, credited the carworker unions for taking the necessary steps to help Chrysler avoid bankruptcy protection by accepting a new labour agreement.

"One of the key questions now is: Are the bondholders, the lenders, the money people, are they willing to make sacrifices as well?" Obama said. "We don't know yet."

Washington  - The US economy appears to be contracting at a slower rate than in previous weeks in a sign that it is beginning to stabilize, the US Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

But the Federal Reserve warned that economic activity is likely to remain "weak for a time" and decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 0-0.25 per cent from its last meeting in March.

The Federal Reserve meeting came hours after the US Commerce Department issued its quarterly report showing the economy continued to shrink during the first three months of the year.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Annual inflation in Germany climbed to 0.7 per cent April from 0.5 per cent for the year ending in March, according to preliminary figures released on Tuesday. Increased spending on fuel and package tours during the Easter holidays, accounted for the rise, the Federal Statistics Office said, citing data from six of Germany's federal states.

The March inflation rate was the lowest in nearly a decade.