Although the annual pace was slightly better than forecasted, when you are in double digits, nothing is good about that. The quarterly decline of 4% could have been much worse considering some of the numbers in east Asia but it's still bad overall. The Independent:
Japan's real gross domestic product, or the total value of the nation's goods and services, shrank at an annual pace of 15.2 per cent in the January-March period, the government said today.
The drop was the steepest since Japan began compiling GDP statistics more than five decades ago. It also marks the fourth straight quarter of decline after the GDP fell a revised 14.4 per cent in the October-December period.
Economists surveyed by The Associated Press had expected a 15.8 per cent contraction on average.
"Weakness in the corporate sector is gradually spreading to households," Prime Minister Taro Aso told lawmakers in a parliamentary budget hearing. "This is a very serious situation, so we need to respond appropriately."
