The government on Thursday revised economic growth upward for the January-March quarter to a real 0.1 percent growth over the previous quarter, following its preliminary prediction of a 0.2 percent contraction.

The revision means the economy can avoid, for a little longer, the recession label, which is affixed after two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

The growth instead marked the second consecutive quarterly rise. The figure, measured in terms of gross domestic product, translates to an annualized growth of 0.5 percent, up from the earlier estimated contraction of 0.8 percent, the Cabinet Office said.