The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry gently upgraded its retail sales assessment Wednesday, with the scale of the year-on-year decline in sales having shrank to 3 percent in May from 4.5 percent in April.
While a ministry official said retail sales continue to show a "weakening tone," he added that "some positive moves were partly seen."
It is the first time the ministry has upgraded its view since it began issuing assessments of this kind along with its monthly reports in 2000.