Japan's economy shrank a real 0.8 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday, underscoring the challenges ahead for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as he juggles structural reform and the weakening economy.
The quarter-on-quarter decline, measured in terms of gross domestic product, was the first fall in three quarters and translates into an annualized contraction of 3.2 percent, the Cabinet Office said.
A worldwide economic slump, particularly visible in the information technology industry, took its toll on the already teetering Japanese economy in the first three months of fiscal 2001.