Japan's economy shrinks on weak consumer spending, auto woes

Japan has reported that its economy contracted at an annual rate of 2% in the first quarter of the year, as spending and exports declined. The Cabinet Office said Thursday that on a quarter-to-quarter basis, the preliminary seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, or GDP, a measure of the value of a nation’s products and services, slipped 0.5% in the January-March period. The annual rate measures what would have happened if the quarterly rate lasted a year. The Japanese yen is trading at three-decade lows against the dollar, which increases costs for imports of necessities such as food and oil.