ALJAZEERA: … The economy contracted sharply in the first quarter, as factory production and consumer spending declined in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
Real gross domestic product – a measure of the value of all goods and services produced domestically – shrank at an annualised rate of 3.7 per cent in the January-March period, the country’s cabinet office said on Thursday.
The result marks the second straight quarter that the world’s third largest economy has lost steam and undershoots an annualised 2.3 per cent fall forecast in a Kyodo News agency survey…
(more)
