Japan says economic indicators point to recession
Risks from the global trade conflicts and weakening foreign demand raise concerns that a postwar record growth cycle may be over
Tokyo — Japan may already be in recession, a government assessment of its own economic indicators showed on Monday, as the US-China trade war and weak external demand hurt activity and pose fresh challenges for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies. The country's indexes on leading and coincident economic indicators both declined in March from the previous month, the cabinet office said. In its accompanying assessment on the coincident index, which combines readings such as factory output, employment and retail sales, the government described the state of the economy as "worsening". That expression suggests a high possibility the economy has already fallen into recession, the government stated in its guidelines on the index assessment. It also compares with its previous assessment for February when it described the economy at "a turning point towards a downgrade". The last time the government used the expression "worsening" in its assessment was between October 2012 and January 201...
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