The economic recovery halted in the third quarter of calendar 2012 on the global downturn, government data showed Monday, reinforcing the view that Japan is in a mild recession and putting further pressure on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ahead of an election that could be held before the end of next month.
Gross domestic product contracted a real 0.9 percent, or an annualized 3.5 percent, from the previous quarter, with the Cabinet Office also downgrading the result for the final quarter of 2011 to negative territory.
The poor outcomes increase the prospects that the government and the Bank of Japan will take additional measures to boost the economy.