Japan Jan.-March economic contraction revised to annualized real 1.8%

Japan's economy shrank an annualized real 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter, revised up from its earlier reading of a 2.0 percent decline, as corporate capital spending fell less than initially thought, the Cabinet Office said Monday.It was the first contraction in two quarters due to soft domestic demand and the effects of a safety data-rigging scandal at a Toyota Motor Corp. group firm that dented production and exports.Adjusted for inflation, Japan's gross domestic product -- the total value of goods and services produced in a country -- fell 0.5 percent from the previous quarter,…READ FULL ARTICLE