Japan’s economy shrank less than first reported last quarter, easing concerns over the risk of a double-dip recession as the country struggles through yet another round of restrictions to contain the coronavirus.
Gross domestic product for the January-March period contracted an annualized 3.9% from the final quarter of 2020, the Cabinet Office reported Tuesday in figures that beat analyst forecasts and showed that the world’s third-largest economy weathered a winter wave of the virus better than the government earlier estimated.
With Japan’s latest virus emergency set to last through mid-June, about a month before the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics, economists were looking to the GDP report for any signs of extra weakness that would indicate a heightened risk of another contraction this quarter. They didn’t get that.