Japan's government got some breathing room after revised gross domestic product (GDP) data showed the struggling economy managed to escape recession - for now.
GDP for the January-March quarter was revised upward to show growth of a real 0.1 per cent from the previous quarter, compared with a 0.2 per cent drop in the initial estimate released in June.
Most economists were not surprised by the unusually large upward revision, which was caused by a revision last week to first-quarter spending data for single-person households after the government rejigged the formula to reduce volatility in the data series.
Single households account for 15 to 20 per cent of overall spending, which in turn is the biggest component of the world's second-largest economy.
Nonetheless, economists said the revision did not change the fact the economy was looking dire.
Currency strategist at Lehman Brothers Mr Ron Leven said it was hard to make a positive story out of the revision.
"The next quarter is looking like GDP will shrink quite a lot, so it's hard to see this as a meaningful change in the outlook on Japan. To all practical purposes, Japan is in recession," he said.