Asset purchases versus rate cuts Before I finish, it is perhaps useful to consider an alternative scenario, in which our response to the COVID-19 crisis would have come from further cuts in short-term interest rates rather than from asset purchases.
Weakness in the employment situation has also become evident, as seen in (1) the fact that the DI for employment conditions turned to a net "excessive" for manufacturing, accommodations, and eating and drinking services in the June Tankan; (2) a decline in the active job openings-toapplicants ratio; and (3) a rise in the unemployment rate (Chart 4).