a recent recovery in japanese consumer spending was damped by a rise in covid19 infections and growing inflation tokyo—japan’s economy contracted for the first time in a year in the third quarter reflecting weak external demand and a sluggish recovery in private spending amid lingering fears over covid19 and rising prices the world’s thirdlargest economy after the us and china contracted 03 in the three months through september from the previous quarter that compares with 11 growth in the previous quarter and consensus forecasts for a 02 expansion