Japan’s economy contracts on shrinking consumption, exports

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy shrank at a 3% annual rate in the July-September quarter, as private consumption and auto production took a hit from the ongoing efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The government Cabinet Office says the gross domestic product, or GDP, which measures the sum of the value of a nation’s products and services, declined 0.8% from the previous quarter. The annualized rate is how much the economy would have grown or contracted had the on-quarter rate continued for a year. Private consumption sank 1.1% in July-September from the previous quarter, according to government data.