MNI BRIEF: Govt Keeps Overall Japan Economy View, Ups Employment

Japan's government has maintained its main economic assessment from May, but upgraded its view on employment and tweaked its appraisal of the corporate goods price, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.

The Government left its assessment of major economic components – such as exports, industrial production and private consumption – and its view on the global economy unchanged for the second straight month. “The Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace,” the Government repeated.

Its upgraded employment assessment noted “the employment situation has shown movements of improvement recently," a shift from May's view that the situation was picking up. The Government also said the corporate goods price had fallen moderately recently, updated from the previous view that the data point was more or less unchanged.

The Government also maintained its optimistic view of the near-term outlook, noting it expects the economy to continue recovering at a moderate pace with the improved employment and income situation supported by policies. However, the Government maintained its cautious view, repeating “slowing down of overseas economies is a downside risk to the Japanese economy amid ongoing global monetary tightening and other factors.”

“Also, full attention should be given to price increases and fluctuations in the financial and capital markets,” the Government said.