Japanese economy in recession

TOKYO, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Japan's economic output shrank in the latest quarter, the second straight quarterly decline, pushing the world's second largest economy into a recession.

Hit by weakening demand for exports in the current global financial crisis and a rising yen, Japan's gross domestic product, the second highest after the United States, further contracted 0.1 percent in the July-September quarter after a decline in the April-June quarter, the Cabinet office said Monday, Kyodo news service reported.

Japan's GDP has declined by 0.4 percent this year, CNN reported.

Japanese stocks have fallen 42 percent since the start of this year. U.S. stocks have plummeted 33 percent in the same period, the report said.

Japan's economic woes follow that of the 15-nation European Zone which officially slid into recession Friday.