Japan in Recession
Ben McLannahan:
Japan’s GDP shrinks 2.3% in fourth quarter: Japan’s economy shrank for the third time in four quarters between October and December, after floods in Thailand damaged production and a strong yen and subdued overseas demand hurt exports.
Government figures on Monday showed that real gross domestic product fell an annualised 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, much worse than consensus forecasts of a 1.3 per cent decline. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, output fell 0.6 per cent, dragged down by exports – which fell 3.1 per cent – following a 1.7 per cent rise in the third quarter.
The nation’s currency has eased only a little since hitting a postwar high of Y75.35 against the US dollar in October. The trade balance for 2011 showed a deficit of Y2.5tn ($32bn) – the first annual deficit in 31 years – as exports to the eurozone and Asia, including China, fell sharply….
Nationwide core CPI fell 0.1 per cent, year on year, in December, the third straight month of decline. Prices haven’t risen at least 1 per cent for any year since 1997.
