Nevertheless, looking ahead, a moderate recovery trend in consumption is likely to be maintained as nominal wages will continue on a moderate rising trend, amid the tightening labor market conditions. Third, I revised downward my projection of business fixed investment for fiscal 2015 as well, owing to negative growth recorded in the April-June quarter (relative to the previous quarter).
In contrast to positive business fixed investment plans for fiscal 2015 reported by the Bank’s Tankan (Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan), actual machinery orders and capital goods shipment have remained disappointing; some firms may postpone their fixed investment plans because of higher unexpected costs caused by labor shortages and rising prices of construction materials.