Tokyo - The Japanese economy recorded its first growth in three quarters as it expanded at an annualised rate of 2.2 percent in the October-to-December period, the government said on Monday.
The reading was far worse than the 3.8-percent growth predicted in a poll of economists by the Nikkei business daily.
Private consumption, which makes up 60 percent of output, rose 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter, while corporate investment edged up 0.1 percent after falling 0.1 percent in the July-to-September period, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report.
The office also revised gross domestic product down to a contraction of 2.3 percent in the July-to-September quarter from a contraction of 1.9 percent it had estimated two months ago.
Sapa-dpa