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Japan’s economy weakening
Japan’s economy shrank 0.6 per cent in October-December from the previous quarter as a global economic slowdown, Thai floods and a strong yen dealt a blow to the economy just as it was emerging from a recession caused by last year’s devastating earthquake. The decline was bigger than economists’ median forecast for a 0.3 per cent contraction, and followed a revised 1.7 per cent expansion in July-September, data from the Cabinet Office showed today.
The gross domestic product (GDP) figure translated into an annualised contraction of 2.3 percent, against a 1.4 per cent annualised decline expected by economists.