Figures released by the Japanese government show that the country's economy has grown for a second successive quarter.

日本政府发布的数据显示，日本经济连续两个季度保持增长。

remains¹ shaky" width="226" height="170" src="/upimg/091116/4_062753_1.jpg" />
Consumer prices in Japan are falling but demand remains shaky

The world's second biggest economy grew by 1.2% in the three months from July to September - faster than economists³ had predicted.

However, analysts⁴ say overall growth is likely to be sluggish⁵（偷懒的，懒惰的） for years.

The global downturn had plunged⁶ Japan into its worst recession since the Second World War.

Japan's Trade Minister, Masayuki Naoshima, apologised for disclosing the market sensitive third-quarter GDP figures to oil industry executives ahead of its official release

It was the first GDP data released after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's new government took power in mid-September.

Stimulating⁷

Most economists say there is little chance of Japan's economy returning to recession, given the latest figures.

Stimulus⁸ measures were credited with lifting consumer spending and capital spending rose, but analysts say growth will slow as wages stay low.

Even though subsidies⁹ and tax breaks enacted¹⁰（制定，颁布） by the previous government will remain in place until next year, an expected fall in year-end bonuses and a scarcity¹¹（缺乏，不足） of jobs mean households will have less to spend.

"With weakness ahead in private consumption or public spending, a slowdown is unavoidable in the January-March and April-June quarters," Kyohei Morita, chief economist² at Barclays Capital in Tokyo, told Reuters.

"The one bright spot is that capital spending turned positive. However, while this signals that capital spending is starting to rise from the bottom, the size is still not enough to promise the kind of speed that would be required to prevent a slowdown in the first half of 2010," the economist added.

The new Democratic Party-led government's measures to support households will eventually help, but they may not make an impact until the second half of next year, economists said.

National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan said that the economy remained severe despite the pick-up in GDP and that he saw signs Japan was entering deflation（通货紧缩）.

"The economy is expected to continue to recover as overseas economies improve," Mr Kan told reporters after the GDP data were released.

"At the same time, the employment situation remains very bad and downside risks exist in overseas economies."

The government is still considering whether it would issue extra budgetary（预算的） support measures.

Japan came out of recession after its economy grew by 0.9% in the April-to-June quarter after four consecutive¹² quarters of contraction¹³.

Japan officially fell into recession last year and there was a dramatic fall in growth in the January-March period as the world economic slowdown hit Japanese exports hard.