The data is here: Japan back into recession as Q3 GDP (preliminary) comes in at -1.6% y/y

and what a sad, sorry tale it is …

–

The Wall Street Journal take on it:

  • A sales tax increase pushed Japan’s economy into a recession in the third quarte ,… marked the second quarter of contraction, after the economy shrank 7.3% in the April-June quarter after the national sales tax ticked up to 8% from 5% on April 1. Many economists consider two quarters of economic contraction to be a recession
  • In one positive sign, however, firms started to cut back on a glut of inventories that was holding back production, the data showed

The article is gated: Japan Falls Into Recession

And, more:

  • “The GDP print was a shocker, but when a government is mulling stimulus it’s ‘good’ to be ‘bad’,” says CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith. “[Prime Minister] Abe already has what he wants: a weak yen and low bond yields. And he will please voters and win four more years [to his political mandate] through the upcoming election.”
  • … media reports are predicting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will dissolve the lower house of parliament as early as next week and call for elections by mid-December.

The article is gated: Japan Stocks Slide After Gloomy GDP Data