Private consumption has been resilient, as evidenced by a clear increase on a quarter-on-quarter basis for the July-September quarter against the background of steady improvement in the employment and income situation. That said, a virtuous cycle in both the corporate and household sectors has been maintained in Japan’s economy.
The real GDP growth rate for the July-September quarter was slightly negative for a second consecutive quarter, but this is mainly due to the progress in inventory adjustments, and final demand as a whole has been increasing.