Japan’s quarterly economy contracts as energy prices soar

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy shrank at an annual rate of 1% in the first quarter, as rising prices and COVID-19 restrictions deadened spending and investment. The Cabinet Office says Japan’s real gross domestic product, or GDP, the sum of the value of a nation’s products and services, contracted 0.2% in January-March compared to the previous quarter, as household consumption and government investments fell. Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent energy prices soaring, a big minus for resource-poor Japan. The Japanese yen has nose-dived, trading at about 130 yen to the dollar. In trade, higher energy prices inflated the price of imports.