Japan's recession less serious than thought

Tokyo

JAPAN'S plunge back into economic recession in the third quarter of this year was almost certainly not as serious as originally estimated, official data on business investment published on Monday suggested - offering what analysts said could be a boost to prime minister Shinzo Abe's prospects in the run-up to the Dec 14 snap election.

Corporate capital spending rose in the third quarter, marking six consecutive quarterly increases; the increase - at 5.5 per cent - was also sharply higher than the 3 per cent rise in the second quarter, said Japan's Ministry of Finance.

The sharper-than-expected increase will probably mean that the revised third quarter gross domestic product (GDP), due to be published on Dec 8, will show an annuali…