Housing investment increased somewhat in the most recent month, as starts of owner-occupied single houses and those for rent expanded. Business investment continues to rise, led by buoyant outlays by manufacturing firms. Export volume remains broadly unchanged. Industrial production continues to rise, but has been slowing down. Although the slack in the labour market has diminished little as exemplified by the stubbornly high unemployment rate, improvements continue to be seen in the growing number of job offers and in the rising trend of overtime hours worked.
Corporate profits continues to rise markedly.
Business confidence continues to improve slightly, with, however, some deterioration foreseen for the immediate future. On the other hand, the number of business failures has stayed somewhat high, with gross debt of failed firms rising. The Government aims to sustain domestic activities to make sure that the economy establishes an autonomous recovery path, and to make bold reforms of economic structure for the 21 st century. The Japanese economy, in terms of demand, shows that personal consumption remains broadly flat while household income has improved a little. Housing investment increased somewhat in the most recent month, as starts of owner-occupied single houses and those for rent expanded.