With a recovery like this who needs a recession? That is a bit unfair on Japan. At least it recorded growth of 0.9 per cent in the three months to June after four straight quarters of stomach-churning contraction. That makes it the best-performing developed economy of the hour.

But Monday's (17 Aug) numbers hide a multitude of woes that will hamper the desperate endeavour of the ruling Liberal Democratic party to cling to power in the general elections due on August 30.

For a start, unemployment is creeping up. Last month, it nudged back to 5.4 per cent, close to the 2003 peak that followed a decade of stagnation. Much of the growth, too, is indebted to a huge stimulus package, as well as to a bounce in net exports, the latter partly due to a fall in imports. Taken together, that is hardly an unequivocal sign of economic vigour.