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Japan's GDP slumps nearly 13 percent

  • Story Highlights
  • Japan's industrial production dropped steeply in December, falling 9.6 percent
  • 27,000 job cuts announced earlier as NEC and Hitachi reveal heavy losses
  • Japan automakers have said vehicle output down 25 percent in December from a year ago
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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.

December was the third month that Japan's production had decreased. Production was expected to fall further in January and February, according to a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry report.

The drop offs in production come as factories announced layoffs, including 20,000 job losses at computer firm NEC Corporation and 7,000 at electronics company Hitachi.

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