Business sentiment has improved among manufacturing and nonmanufacturing firms, and stock prices have been improving as a trend supported also by the good performance of global businesses. In this situation, business fixed investment has been on a recovery trend, albeit a moderate one, and private consumption has been recovering, exceeding the level before the Lehman crisis.
On the other hand, balance sheet adjustments in the household sector are likely to take more time and housing investment has been at a low level, especially in terms of sales of newly constructed houses. The employment and income situation has improved somewhat, but the pace of improvement has remained moderate.