Japan's economy grew in second quarter

The Japanese economy was hit particularly hard by the recession. It relies heavily on exports and most of its crude oil is imported. Overseas demand fell apart and shortly thereafter, oil made its run to $70 per barrel. In what may be a surprise to many economists, however, Japan's GDP grew 0.9 percent in the second quarter, handily outperforming the U.S.

Last week, France and Germany announced that they had begun to rebound from the recession. China's economy grew sharply in the second quarter after what was, by its standards, slow growth in the first three months of the year.