JAPAN RECORDS TRADE DEFICIT FOR SECOND YEAR

Japan logged a deficit for a second straight year last year as its exports were hurt by a slowdown of demand in China. Data released Thursday showed Japan’s exports fell 5.6% in 2019, to 76.9 trillion yen ($701.6 billion), while imports fell 5.0% to 78.6 trillion yen ($710 billion). That left a deficit of 1.6 trillion yen ($14 billion).