Japan's economy shrinks at record rate, slammed by pandemic

Japan's economy shrank at annual rate of 27.8% in April-June, the worst contraction on record, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed consumption and trade, according to government data released Monday. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, said that a state of emergency was issued in April and May, which impacted the results by "artificially stopping" the economy. The Cabinet Office reported that Japan's preliminary seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, or GDP, fell 7.8% quarter on quarter. Japanese media reported the latest drop was the worst since World War II. The world's third largest economy was already ailing when the virus outbreak struck late last year.