Japan's economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the April-June period, rebounding from the contraction in the previous quarter, government data showed Thursday. The world's fourth largest economy grew 0.8% in the fiscal first quarter, according to the Cabinet Office. Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, or GDP, measures the value of a nation's products and services. The annual rate shows how much the economy would have grown or contracted, if the quarterly rate had continued for a year. Domestic demand grew a robust 3.5% from the previous quarter on the back of healthy household consumption and private sector investments, as well as government investments. Exports grew a booming 5.9%. Japan's GDP shrank 0.6% in January-March on quarter, after eking out 0.1% growth in October-December last year. Economic growth went back and forth between such periods of contraction and weak expansion for the past year. Today's GDP data signal that the virtuous cycle between income and ...