TOKYO (MNI) – Hit by the global slowdown, Japan’s economy
contracted 0.9% on quarter in July-September, slumping after a 0.1%
growth (revised down from +0.2%) in April-June and marking the first
contraction in three quarters, the Cabinet Office said on Monday.
On an annualized basis, GDP fell 3.5%, down sharply from a revised
0.3% rise (+0.7% in the previous report) in the second quarter of 2012.
The median forecast by economists polled by MNI was -0.9% q/q, or
an annualized -3.5%.
Due to seasonal adjustments, GDP for the final quarter of 2011 was
revised down to a 0.3% contraction, or an annualized 1.2% fall, from a
quarter-on-quarter increase.
Q3 domestic demand fell 0.2% q/q after a 0.2% rise in the second
quarter while net exports — exports minus imports — slashed 0.7
percentage point off the Q3 GDP after trimming Q2 economic growth by 0.1
percentage point.
Personal consumption, the largest component of GDP, was also weak,
down 0.5% on quarter and posting the second straight quarterly drop
after -0.1% in Q2 and +1.2% in Q1, as the government ended its subsidies
for buying low-emission vehicles in September.
In addition, capital investment tumbled 3.2% q/q, posting the first
fall in two quarters after +0.9% in Q2 and -1.9% in Q1, as firms have
turned cautious about their plans in light of the global economic
slowdown.
Housing and public capital investment posted growth thanks to
demand for rebuilding the earthquake-hit northeast region and fiscal
programs for disaster prevention, but they were not strong enough to
prevent the economy from shrinking in the third quarter.
Some economists believe the Japanese economy has already entered a
downturn after peaking in March and that it could contract again in the
October-December quarter.
–email: msato@mni-news.com
[TOPICS: MAJDS$,M$A$$$,M$J$$$,MT$$$$]
