RPT-Japan Q4 GDP -0.6 pct qtr/qtr

TOKYO Feb 13 (Reuters) - Japan's economy shrank 0.6 percent in October-December from the previous quarter as a global economic slowdown, Thai floods and a strong yen dealt a blow to the economy just as it was emerging from a recession wrought by last year's devastating earthquake.

The decline was bigger than economists' median forecast for a 0.3 percent contraction, and followed a revised 1.7 percent expansion in July-September, data from the Cabinet Office showed on Monday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) figure translated into an annualised contraction of 2.3 percent, against a 1.4 percent annualised decline expected by economists.

That compared with an annualised expansion of 2.8 percent in the United States in the same quarter.

Economists expect Japan's economy to resume growth this year backed by policy steps including post-disaster reconstruction efforts, but Europe's sovereign debt crisis and a persistently strong yen cloud the outlook.