Japan’s economy contracted by slightly less than first estimated in the January-March period, data showed on Thursday, after the impact of a devastating earthquake and tsunami pushed it into recession.
Japan revised upward its first-quarter GDP reading to an annualised 3.5 percent contraction from a 3.7 percent shrinkage, but the change was smaller than economist forecasts of minus 3.0 percent.
On a quarterly basis the reading was unchanged. Gross domestic product fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, and marked the second consecutive quarter of contraction, which economists define as a technical recession.
(Source: macaubusiness.com)