The FINANCIAL — Gross domestic product expanded by a price-adjusted 0.9% quarter on quarter in the April-June period, with this annualized 3.7% growth the first uptick in five quarters, shows preliminary data released on August 17 by the Cabinet Office.
The average market projection had been for annualized growth of 4%.
"External demand, which is exports minus imports, served to buoy quarter-on-quarter growth by 1.6 points, making for the first positive contribution in five terms. Exports rose 6.3% from the January-March period, while imports fell 5.1%," Nikkei reports.
Domestic demand dragged on the GDP growth figure by 0.7 point; this was better than the minus 2.2 points of the January-March quarter. The domestic demand total was helped along by a 8.1% rise in government spending and a 0.8% climb in consumer spending, the latter of which came largely thanks to policy measures like the "eco-point" system and tax breaks for green-vehicle owners.
Meanwhile, capital investment, which has been steadily slumping throughout the downturn, dropped 4.3% on the quarter. Deteriorating employment conditions and falling incomes pressured spending on housing down by 9.5%.
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