Posted on 06 Feb 2009
Real gross domestic product in December shrank 2.5 per cent from the month before, according to estimates released Monday by the
The contraction matched the April 1997 drop, triggered by a consumption tax hike, as the steepest since compilation of such statistics began in 1994.
And the fifth monthly decline marked the longest stretch on record, surpassing four-month streaks associated with the bursting of the tech bubble in 2001 and the economic lull of 2004.
External demand accounted for 1.6 points of the decline, with exports falling 9.2 per cent from November on slumping overseas economies and a stronger yen.
