tokyo japan’s economy recovered its prepandemic size in the apriljune quarter with strong consumer spending after pandemicrelated movement restrictions were lifted the world’s thirdlargest economy after the us and china expanded 05 in the three months to june from the previous quarter that compares with a flat reading in the previous quarter and consensus forecasts for a 06 expansion adjusted for inflation and seasonal factors japan’s economy in the latest quarter was bigger than in the final quarter of 2019 the first time that has happened since the covid19 pandemic hit in early 2020 the economy expanded 22 on an annualized basis which reflects what would happen if the secondquarter pace continued for a full year private consumption increased 11 from the previous quarter the number of covid19 infections declined during the period encouraging consumers to return to shops and restaurants economists say private consumption will likely remain a growth driver for the japanese economy in the current julyseptember period an expanded version of this report appears on wsjcom if your coworkers are ‘quiet quitting’ here’s what that means