Japan Loses Its Spot as World's Third-Largest Economy as It Slips Into Recession
- Data underscore weak domestic consumption, investment
- Economy falls to fourth-largest in world behind Germany
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Japan’s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession after shrinking for a second quarter due to anemic domestic demand, prompting some central bank watchers to push back bets on when the nation’s negative interest rate policy will end.
Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized pace of 0.4% in the final three months of last year, following a revised 3.3% retreat in the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office reported Thursday.