In the US, Unemployment Claims, weekly report to value the unemployment that filed for insurance, is about to rise by 1K up to 404K this week.

Last week signs of a slowdown were seen in the Japanese economy with All industries activity index dropping by 0.5% more than the 0.2% decline anticipated and Revised industrial production index gained 0.6% less than the 0.8% predicted. Will this trend continue?

Masaaki Shirakawa Governor of the Bank of Japan announced last week that economy will likely contract in the first half of 2011 in light of the halt in production following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. All efforts are devoted to regaining growth in the summer period. Will these efforts succeed?

In the US, Unemployment Claims, that measures the individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week is about to rise by 1K. The nation’s earliest economic data that impact fluctuates from week to week. Consumer spending is highly correlated with labor-market conditions.

The rate decision is the highlight of a very busy week in Japan. Here’s an outlook for the Japanese events and an updated technical analysis for USD/JPY.

USD/JPY daily chart with support and resistance lines marked. Click to enlarge:

In the US, Advance Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is the earliest GDP release, measuring the annualized change in the inflation-adjusted value of all goods and services produced by the economy, giving us a glimpse into the state of the U.S. economy, is expected to drop from 5.6% to 3.4% while the Advance GDP Price Index, measuring annualized change in the price of all goods and services included in GDP is expected to rise from 0.5% to 0.9% and might increase interest rates.

General dollar weakness didn’t affect all the currencies. Some have their own troubles. In the forex overview you can find the winners and losers, and what are the major events that affected them.

In Australia, CB Leading Index rose by 0.2%, showing that the Australian economy is still stable. NAB Quarterly Business Confidence fell by 24 points. And the Private Sector Credit in Australia rose by 0.1%. AUD/USD now trades at 0.7273, keeping it’s gains.