Japanese economy slows in third quarter

Japan's economy slowed in the third quarter, growing 0.5 percent after having grown 0.9 percent in the second quarter, a report showed on Thursday.

Private consumption grew just 0.1 percent, sharply down from the 0.6 percent growth in the previous quarter. Net exports subtracted 0.5 percentage point from GDP growth after having contributed 0.1 percentage point in the previous quarter.

In contrast, inventories contributed 0.4 percentage point in the third quarter after subtracting 0.1 percentage point in the previous quarter. Capital expenditure grew 0.2 percent in the third quarter.

Indeed, a report on Wednesday had shown that core machinery orders rose 4.3 percent in the third quarter.

Of concern, though, is that orders fell 2.1 percent in September and is forecast to fall 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter.