Japan mired in recession, no sign of quick recovery

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-12 13:54

TOKYO -- Japan's economy posted its sharpest contraction since the oil crisis of 1974 in the final three months of last year, revised government data showed, and economists saw little signs of an early rebound.

Pedestrians wait for walk signal in front of an electric market information display in Tokyo, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. [Agencies]

With companies aggressively scaling back production and cutting jobs to cope with a plunge in global demand, economists say Japan is on course for its longest recession in modern times.

"The data confirms that Japan's economic state is quite severe. We see a sharp decline in exports, which puts Japan in a bad situation because exports are falling everywhere," said Seiji Adachi, senior economist at Deutsche Securities.

The economy shrank 3.2 percent or an annualized 12.1 percent in October-December, slightly less than the initial estimate and a consensus forecast of economists, both for a 3.3 percent or annualized 12.7 percent contraction.

A rise in inventories led to the slight revision, but analysts said that was nothing to be happy about as it reflects slowing demand both at home and abroad -- and not companies' appetite to produce more.

The revised GDP figures were shy of the record 3.4 percent contraction in the first quarter of 1974.

While the global financial crisis has dragged much of the rich world into recession, the contraction in Japan, the world's No.2 economy, was about twice as deep as elsewhere due to its heavy dependence on exports for growth.

The euro zone economy shrank 1.5 percent in the same period while the United States contracted an annualized 6.2 percent.

Japan's economic slump is its deepest of the modern era and economists see it also becoming the longest, with many expecting the economy to keep shrinking well into this year.

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