In the household sector, wages have been growing – as seen in the rise in base pay for two consecutive years in a situation where the unemployment rate has declined to the level that can be regarded as almost corresponding to “full employment” – and private consumption has been resilient.
The real GDP growth rate for the April-June quarter of 2015 was minus 0.3 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, registering a negative figure for the first time in three quarters (Chart 1). This is due to weak exports affected mainly by the recent slowdown in emerging economies and to somewhat sluggish private consumption reflective of bad weather.