TOKYO — Japan has extended its growth streak for another quarter.

The Japanese economy grew for a seventh consecutive quarter — the longest streak in nearly two decades — according to government data released Wednesday.

Japanese businesses have benefited from rising global demand because of an improving global economic outlook, as well as from sustained financial stimulus measures from the government and the central bank. Unemployment is at a multidecade low, the stock market is buoyant, and even the country’s longtime economic nemeses — persistent wage and price deflation — have eased.

The perky economy already helped Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his governing coalition win a comfortable victory in parliamentary elections last month.

What Happened?

Gross domestic product increased 1.4 percent in annualized terms in the three months through September, the Cabinet Office said in the preliminary estimate published Wednesday. The economy has been expanding since the start of 2016, the longest streak of growth since one that began in 1999.