TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s economy grew an annual rate of 1.1% in the April-June quarter even as private consumption stayed flat and the growth of exports declined, according to government data released Monday.
Japan ’s real GDP, or gross domestic product, the sum value of nation’s goods and services, grew at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.3% from the first quarter to second quarter of this 2026, according to Cabinet Office data.
The annualized rate shows what the growth rate would have been if it had continued for a whole year. It was 2.1% in the January-March period.
Private spending dipped 1.2% in April-June compared to January-March, while exports grew 0.5%.
Exports for the latest period were driven by the global demand for Japanese autos and semiconductors. Japan is home for Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other top automakers.
Global demand for computer chips being powered by interest in AI, helping to support Japan's exports.
Government consumption rose 1.6%.
Quarterly GDP growth was lower than what analysts had expected. The Japanese economy has been hurt by the war in Iran, which has sent energy costs surging. That’s especially difficult for resource-poor Japan, which imports almost all its oil.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital transport route for oil exports from the Persian Gulf to Asia, has been effectively blocked due to the war, pushing prices higher. Japan has released some oil reserves and is working on alternate routes.
Brent crude has been recently trading at about $88 a barrel, up from about $65 a year ago, although that’s lower than earlier this year, when it shot above $110 a barrel.
A weak yen has also worked as a plus for some Japanese companies, including giant exporters like Toyota, boosting the value of overseas earnings when translated into yen.
But a weak yen makes it more expensive to import raw materials, raising prices for consumers and denting spending.
Concerns have been growing about rising prices, as wage growth in Japan has been relatively stagnant.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has promised to get growth going again, but her public support ratings, while still high compared to some of her predecessors, have been gradually sinking.
The U.S. dollar has been trading at near 160 Japanese yen levels lately, up from about 145 yen a year ago. It was trading at about 159 yen after Monday’s economic data got released.
The Bank of Japan recently raised its economic growth outlook to 0.6% for the fiscal year through March next year, from an earlier 0.5%.
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
FILE - Vehicles are parked for export at a Yokohama port, near Tokyo on Aug. 1, 2025. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said vandals are to blame for large swaths of dead grass on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial — in the same spot where Trump had a stage built and hosted crowds for his July 4 celebration.
Trump made the accusation in a social media post without saying why he believes it's the work of vandals instead of trampled turf from the Independence Day festivities. He posted a photo showing a once-grassy area by the World War II Memorial, now patchy and brown across much of the sprawling turf.
“Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” he added.
Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for damage to his renovation projects in the nation's capital, often without evidence and sometimes despite opposing accounts from his officials. Trump lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro this month after her office concluded that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of poor construction and not the work of vandals, as Trump claimed.
Authorities on Friday announced an arrest in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial, after the words “Clean hands dirty $” were found painted on the monument and bubbles filled a fountain. Pirro said felony charges are being brought against Melissa L. Farris.
Charging documents in that case make no mention of the grassy area Trump is highlighting in his new claims. Authorities said Farris had previously been arrested for camping on federal property a few blocks from the World War II Memorial, but not the area cited by Trump.
That stretch of lawn is instead where a large stage was built and crowds gathered to hear from Trump and watch fireworks at a July 4 event celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary. Trump claimed without providing evidence that more than 400,000 people attended the event before a storm hit the area and delayed his remarks.
Photos from the time, taken by a streaming webcam atop the Washington Monument, show a large bandstand and seating areas covering nearly the entire lawn Trump now says has been vandalized. Associated Press photos from the days that followed showed workers removing the structures, revealing brown, damaged grass underneath.
On Aug. 1, Trump posted a different photo of the same area that appears to show the numbers “86 47” — which federal officials have said constitutes a threat against Trump — emblazoned into the grass. He cited it as evidence refuting Pirro's conclusion, calling it “a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass."
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he wrote.
Those numbers are not visible in the photo Trump posted to social media on Sunday.
FILE - Workers dismantle structures from Salute to America, an Independence Day event honoring the nation's 250th anniversary, as seen from the Washington Monument, on July 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
