Japan's Eco Watchers Current, Outlook Indexes Fall Further

(RTTNews) - Japan's economy watchers' assessment of current situation and expectations continued to deteriorate in February, survey data from the Cabinet Office showed Monday.

The index that measures experts' views of the current condition of the economy dropped to 53 in February from 54.7 in January, marking the second consecutive fall. Economists had forecast a modest decline to 47.1

Likewise, the outlook index, which reflects the assessment of future economic situation in Japan, fell to 40 in February from 49 in January. The index has now fallen for the third month in a row.

Earlier today, revised data published by Cabinet Office showed that the Japanese economy expanded 0.2 percent on quarter in the three months to December 2013, which was slightly weaker than last month's preliminary reading for 0.3 percent growth.

On an annualized basis, GDP expanded 0.7 percent, down from 1 percent in the preliminary report and 1.1 percent recorded in the September quarter.