P. M. BRIEFING : Japan’s Inflation Up, Growth Off

TOKYO — Japanese inflation soared and production growth slumped in 1989, but the country still turned in an economic performance that was the envy of most of its trading partners.

The government said today that consumer prices jumped 2.3% last year, after rising a meager 0.7% in 1988.

That was the biggest rise since 1984 but still looked small when compared with many other nations, including the United States, where inflation is about 4.5%.

Japan also did better than many of its trading partners in churning out products in 1989, even though industrial output grew only 5.9% after surging 9.5% in 1988. Economists said the slowdown in output growth was to be expected after 1988’s torrid rise and maintained that the 3-year-old economic upswing remains in place.