Japan’s 1st-Quarter GDP Revised Upward

In more good news for Japan’s economy, the government said gross domestic product growth during the first quarter of the year was slightly higher than initially thought. The economy grew 2.0% during the January-March period, the Economic Planning Agency said. In June, the agency said the economy had expanded at a 1.9% pace during that quarter from the previous one. On an annualized basis, GDP grew at a revised 8.1%, up from the 7.9% announced in June, the EPA said. The announcement came amid Japan’s worst recession in 50 years and sparked hopes that the country’s long economic downturn might be nearing an end. But joblessness has been rising steadily as corporations attempt to aggressively reorganize. In June, the unemployment rate hit a record high 4.9%, and many think it will climb further as restructuring accelerates.