Japan's economy expanded at an annualized 4.8 percent in real terms during the October-December period of last year, beating economists' average forecast of 3.8 percent, a government preliminary report showed Thursday.
The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of a country's economic activity, grew 1.2 percent from the previous quarter, the eighth straight quarterly rise, the Cabinet Office said.
The quarterly growth was buoyed by a rebound in consumer spending after unfavorable weather discouraged shoppers in the July-September quarter, and by solid corporate capital spending, it said.
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