The economy treaded water in November, thanks to steadily growing demand, but exports weakened for the third consecutive month amid signs that emerging economies are slowing, the government said Friday.
The downgrade to exports, which fell 0.6 percent in the quarter through September, was Japan's first since September-November 2002, signaling that external demand has been too tepid to bolster the recovery for the past few months.
The world's third-largest economy "is on the way to recovery at a moderate pace," the Cabinet Office said in its monthly economic report.