Economics
Japan’s Economy Shrinks for Second Time in 2018 After Disasters
- Falls in exports, consumption, business spending take a toll
- Typhoons, heavy rains and an earthquake disrupted production
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Japan’s economy shrank for a second time this year after an earthquake, typhoons and torrential rain battered production at home and exports declined amid softer demand overseas.
Gross domestic product is forecast to recover from its annualized 1.2 percent drop in the third quarter, and to continue growing until a sales-tax hike in October 2019, but the impact of a slowdown in China and trade tensions are likely to keep the expansion modest.