Japan economic report drops mention of coronavirus for first time in two years
- Cabinet Office report read the ‘economy shows movements of picking up’, but dropped the words ‘as the severe situation due to the novel coronavirus is easing’
- Change in the expression reflects a shift in Japanese society where social and economic activities have kept going even amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases
The Japanese government said in a monthly report on Wednesday that the economy is recovering from the pandemic, with the word “coronavirus” not included in its assessment for the first time in more than two years.
“The Japanese economy shows movements of picking up,” the Cabinet Office report said in its basic assessment, dropping the words “as the severe situation due to the novel coronavirus is easing” that followed the line in last month’s report.
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The report, however, points to remaining downside risks to the economy as surging virus cases in China have led to lockdowns in large areas, including Shanghai, causing supply-chain disruptions.
By components of the economy, the report said private consumption in May “has shown movements of picking up,” using the same expression from the previous month.
According to the nation’s gross domestic product data for the January to March period, personal spending remained flat, even under a quasi-state of emergency brought on by the Omicron variant surge, after increasing 2.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
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During most of the first quarter of 2022, many prefectures implemented anti-coronavirus measures that enabled their governors to ask people to refrain from travelling across prefectures and urge restaurants and bars to close early.
Private spending is expected to continue its recovery, led by people dining out and making business trips after virus-related curbs were fully lifted in late March, and people were able to spend a weeklong holiday from late April without any activity restrictions for the first time in three years, the report said.
The office said employment “shows movements of picking up,” revising its assessment upwards for the first time in five months. It cited a decrease in jobless rates and growing job offerings by manufacturers and lodging and restaurant businesses.
Meanwhile, consumer prices “have been rising recently,” the report said, using the expression for the first time since December 2007, when the current assessment criteria were first adopted. The April report had said prices “have been rising moderately.”
The core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, accelerated 2.1 per cent in April from a year earlier due to a sharp increase in energy and food prices.
Although the office retained its evaluation for industrial output, saying it “shows movements of picking up,” the report warned that China’s anti-coronavirus measures may have an impact in the coming month as some manufacturers in Japan have temporarily suspended production due to parts shortages.
The office revised its view on the world economy downward for the first time in 25 months, saying that recovery appears to be “pausing” in China due to strict Covid-19 restrictions in the world’s second-largest economy.
