Exports rise 0.5% on auto demand; private spending dips 1.2%
Japan’s real gross domestic product — the total value of the nation’s goods and services — grew 0.3% from the first quarter to the second on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Cabinet Office reported Monday. At an annualized rate, GDP expanded 1.1%, a step down from the 2.1% annualized pace recorded in January-March. The annualized rate reflects what growth would have been had the quarterly pace continued for a full year.
Private spending, the measure of household consumption, dipped 1.2% in the April-June quarter compared with January-March. Exports, by contrast, grew 0.5%, driven by global demand for Japanese-made autos and semiconductors. Japan is home to Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other major automakers.
The data confirmed Japan’s economy was still expanding in the second quarter, though at a more moderate pace than in the opening months of the year.