Japan economy contract for 2nd straight quarter

The Japanese economy shrank for a second quarter in a row in the three months through September, revised government data showed Monday, indicating the world’s third-largest economy has entered a mild recession amid sluggish global demand. The Japanese Cabinet Office on Monday revised the GDP growth rate for the April-to-June period downward from positive 0.3% to negative 0.1% . That’s compared with the previous quarter, according to Japan’s (NHK WORLD) website. The Office kept the figure for the July-September period unchanged at negative 0.9%. That translates to an annualized contraction of 3.5% in real terms. Officials say that the quarterly figure through September did not change in the revised analysis because growth in consumer spending and corporate capital expenditure was offset by smaller growth in pubic sector investment. Officials say the global economic decline is weighing down on Japanese exports. They say reconstruction demand in the quake-hit region is no longer robust enough to maintain positive growth for the nation.