TOKYO (Reuters) -- The Japanese government said on Friday that its economy grew a revised 0.6 percent in the second quarter, less than preliminary figures had shown but confirming that the economy crawled out of recession after a year of contraction.

In addition, Brazil, the largest economy in South America, reported on Friday that it had returned to growth. The two countries join Germany and France in being among the first to pull out of recession.
In Tokyo, the unexpected downward revision from a preliminary 0.9 percent rise was mostly a result of falls in inventories, which analysts took as a positive sign that companies had been clearing their stock out faster than expected.
With the global economy on the mend, exports are likely to underpin a recovery in Japan in the near future, but analysts say the economy may slow again once a temporary lift from government stimulus fades early next year.
That could keep the Bank of Japan from raising interest rates from near zero and from scrapping its unconventional corporate funding support measures for a while to come.
The euro zone economy shrank 0.1 percent in April-June, even as its two biggest economies posted surprise growth. The United States contracted 0.3 percent, or an annualized 1.0 percent.
Brazil closed the door on its short-lived recession with a better-than-expected 1.9 percent growth in its gross domestic product in the second quarter, the statistics agency IBGE said.
Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, credited government action — including steep interest rate cuts, industrial tax breaks and moves to increase liquidity in the financial system — with bringing the country back to growth.
Economists had expected growth of 1.6 percent, according to the median of 20 forecasts in a Reuters poll. The forecasts ranged from 0.7 percent to 2.2 percent.
The country’s growth will continue in the third quarter, Mr. Mantega predicted, with a strong second half pulling the economy to 1 percent growth in 2009.