Japan's economy grew last quarter on healthy consumer spending and business investment

abcnews.go.com:

Japan’s economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1% last quarter, rebounding from the contraction in the previous quarter

TOKYO — Japan’s economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the April-June period, rebounding from the contraction in the previous quarter, government data showed Thursday.

The world’s fourth largest economy grew 0.8% in the fiscal first quarter, according to the Cabinet Office.

Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the value of a nation’s products and services. The annual rate shows how much the economy would have grown or contracted, if the quarterly rate had continued for a year.

Domestic demand grew a robust 3.5% from the previous quarter on the back of healthy household consumption and private sector investments, as well as government investments. Exports grew a booming 5.9%.

Japan’s GDP shrank 0.6% in January-March on quarter, after eking out 0.1% growth in October-December last year. Economic growth went back and forth between such periods of contraction and weak expansion for the past year.

“Today’s GDP data signal that the virtuous cycle between income and spending has become more pronounced but uncertainty surrounding macro policies has heightened,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING Economics.

Carnell was pointing to the announcement Wednesday by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that he won’t seek reelection as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Whoever replaces him as the party leader in the September vote will become prime minister since the party controls parliament.

“There is no strong contender to take over Kishida’s role, making it difficult to estimate the policy direction of the next government,” Carnell said.

The Liberal