Japan’s Export Growth Slows in Challenge for Abe: Economy

Japan’s export growth slowed in September and the nation extended a record run of trade deficits, underscoring the challenge for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in sustaining momentum in the world’s third-biggest economy.

Shipments increased 11.5 percent from a year earlier, the weakest pace in three months, a finance ministry report showed in Tokyo. That compared with a 14.6 percent gain in August and the 15.6 percent median forecast of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Imports climbed 16.5 percent, leaving a trade deficit of 932.1 billion yen ($9.5 billion), an unprecedented 15th straight shortfall in data back to 1979.