TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan suffered its biggest economic contraction on record in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic crushed business and consumer spending, keeping policymakers under pressure for bolder action to prevent the recession deepening.
While the economy is emerging from the doldrums after lockdowns were lifted in late May, many analysts expect any rebound in July-September growth to be modest as a renewed rise in infections keep consumers’ purse-strings tight.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank an annualised 27.8% in April-June, government data showed on Monday, marking the biggest decline since comparable data became available in 1980. Read more…..
Chart of the Day
Icarus TV
Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, Yale University professor of economics, discusses the divergence between the U.S. stock market and the underlying economy and comments on recent trends in the housing market. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Vonnie Quinn and Matt Miller on “Bloomberg Markets.”
