Japan’s GDP slumps nearly 13 percent

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan's gross domestic product slumped 12.7 percent for the fourth quarter in 2008, according to government data released Monday.

---

The news comes after the world's second largest economy reported a steep drop in industrial production in December, falling 9.6 percent from the previous month. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association announced that Japan's output of cars, trucks and buses plunged 25.2 percent in December from a year earlier, down for the third straight month and posting the largest year-on-year fall since 1967...more