Japan Q1 GDP revised to annualised 3.5pc contraction

TOKYO: Japan revised upward its first-quarter GDP reading on Thursday to an annualised 3.5 percent contraction from a 3.7 percent shrinkage, confirming the economy fell into recession after the March 11 quake.

On a quarterly basis the reading was unchanged. Gross domestic product fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, and marked the second consecutive quarter of contraction, which economists define as a technical recession.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011