Posted By Stephen Mills; Group1A
By Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press Writer
TOKYO — Japan's economy contracted in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace in 35 years as a collapse in global demand battered the world's second-largest economy.
Japan's gross domestic product, or the total value of the nation's goods and services, dropped at an annual pace of 12.7% in the October-December period, the government said Monday.
The result represents the steepest drop for Japan since the oil shock of 1974 and far outpaces declines of 3.8% in the U.S. and 1.2% in the euro zone. A survey of economists by Kyodo news agency had projected an 11.6% contraction.
It also marks the third straight quarter of decline after the GDP fell 1.8% in the July-September period.
Fourth-quarter GDP fell 3.3% from the previous three-month period, and for 2008, it contracted 0.7% — the first decline in nine years, according to the Cabinet Office.
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