The Japanese government on Thursday left......>

JAPAN: The Japanese government on Thursday left its overall economic assessment

for December unchanged for the 6th straight month, repeating its view that the

domestic economy remains "in a moderate recovery" amid solid global growth. It

revised up its assessments of imports (first upgrade in 10mths), capital

investment and industrial production while downgrading its view on public works

spending. The government confirmed that an earlier slip in imports was temporary

and that it didn't indicate a slowdown in domestic demand. Last month it said

the pace of pickup in imports was stalling. Japan's economy for the

July-September quarter posted a strong 0.6%, an annualized 2.5%, as a rebound in

net exports offset a slump in consumer spending caused by bad weather. The 7th

straight quarterly expansion in GDP followed unusually strong growth of 0.7% in

April-June. The recent annualized growth pace has been above Japan's potential

growth rate estimated to be just under 1%. The Cabinet Office's Private

Consumption Integrated Estimates index, which is based on both supply- and

demand-side data, posted the first month-on-month rise in two months in October,

up 0.1%, after falling 0.5% in September and being unchanged in August.