Japan economy shrinks at record 15.2% pace

But within the details emerged new hope. Economists said the worst is over for the world's second-largest economy. Many predicted it would grow in the April-June period amid aggressive stimulus steps by the government and signs that companies are boosting production. "I think the economy has passed the bottom, and the recovery has begun in the current quarter," said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Capital Securities in Tokyo. Government data released Wednesday confirmed what many had been dreading yet expecting. The drop in gross domestic product was the steepest since Japan began compiling such statistics in 1955. Compared to the previous three months, GDP fell 4 percent, in the fourth straight quarter that the economy withered. A breakdown of the latest GDP figures showed that exports plummeted a record 26 percent in the first quarter from the fourth quarter. Capital expenditure -- business investment in factories and equipment -- fell 10.4 percent from the previous quarter, while consumer spending slipped 1.1 percent. Unlike previous downturns, consumption has weakened much more than income, said Jerram of Macquarie Capital Securities. "It seems that the public has basically panicked about job security to an extent that hasn't happened in previous cycles," he said. For the last fiscal year through March 31, Japan's GDP contracted by a record 3.5 percent, the Cabinet Office said. It expects the economy to shrink 3.3 percent this fiscal year; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.