Meanwhile, net exports have recently been on an increasing trend, and business fixed investment has been rising steadily. Despite the continued influence of the consumption tax hike, the recovery trend of personal consumption does not seem to have been hindered given the improvement in labor market conditions and income formation. Industrial production has been firm.
Meanwhile, prices have remained stable on the whole, and the growth of monetary aggregates has continued at around 3.0 per cent year to year. With regard to personal consumption, outlays for travel have continued to increase moderately. However, passenger-car sales marked the fourth month of consecutive decline year to year from April and sales of electrical appliances are also negative year to year.