The Japanese economy posted growth in the last quarter, but I would like to make a few observations about the components of the growth.
The revised figures for gross domestic product in October-December 2009, announced on March 11, showed that economic activity grew 0.9 percent on the previous quarter for an annualized rate of 3.8 percent. While faster than anticipated progress in inventory adjustment was one of the factors that contributed to the downward revision of the preliminary quarterly GDP figure of 1.1 percent (4.6 percent annualized), capital investment managed to rise 0.9 percent for the first growth in seven quarters.
Based on the revised data, the government last Monday reported the first improvement in the Japanese economy since July 2009, describing its as "picking up steadily," even though its sustainability is weak and unemployment remains high.
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