Japan's GDP falls 2.1% in July-Sept., 1st contraction in 3 quarters

Japan's economy shrank an annualized real 2.1 percent in the July-September period for the first pullback in three quarters, reflecting sluggish private consumption amid elevated prices and weak capital investment, preliminary government data showed Wednesday.Real gross domestic product, the total value of goods and services produced in the country adjusted for inflation, decreased 0.5 percent from the April-June quarter, according to the Cabinet Office.The figure was worse than the average market forecast of an annualized 0.42 percent contraction in a poll conducted by the Japan Center for…READ FULL ARTICLE