Japan's boom sets a record

TOKYO -- Japan's economy has marked its longest economic expansion since World War II, according to a government report released yesterday.

Japan racked up its 58th month of recovery -- nearly five years -- starting from January 2002, the Cabinet Office said. That surpasses the record from October 1965 to July 1970 dubbed here as "Izanagi keiki," named after an ancient god.

The report takes into account a variety of economic factors besides gross domestic product to determine whether the economy is expanding or shrinking.

But the Cabinet Office also warned about recent weakness in consumer spending, and downgraded its monthly assessment of the economy for the first time since December 2004.

Japan has emerged from a decadelong stagnation, and corporate profits are growing, but there are also signs that people aren't getting all the perks from the recovery, the government said.

The Japanese economy is increasingly global, with companies producing and hiring workers abroad as well as in Japan. That means some of the benefits of higher corporate profits won't trickle down to the Japanese worker, as they are being shared with overseas operations.

The double-digit growth that Japan experienced during the Izanagi era, which coincided with the nation's postwar reconstruction and modernization, was far more stellar than the growth being marked these days.

The economy grew at an annual pace of 2 percent in the third quarter.

The latest government report said that consumer spending is flat, and warned that surging oil prices pose a danger to economic growth. It also noted that corporate investments are on the rise and company profits are improving.

The report also downgraded the assessment of the US economy -- Japan's biggest export market -- saying that the pace of expansion is slowing. But regional economies elsewhere, such as China and Europe, are growing.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe brushed off the less upbeat view on the economy.

The report's cautious view on consumer spending, which makes up more than half of Japan's economy, may influence a decision by the Bank of Japan on when to next raise interest rates.

Economy minister Hiroko Ota assured reporters yesterday that the economy likely won't stall, while acknowledging a need to monitor consumption, wages, and employment.

"We think that the sluggish consumption is a result of weak income growth," she said. "The reason for that and how long it will continue is unclear."