The government maintained an upbeat assessment of Japan's economy in a monthly report released Thursday, though it pointed out that slowing growth in industrial production and exports, along with high crude oil prices, are clouding the economic outlook.
"The economy is recovering at a solid pace," the Cabinet Office said in its September economic report.
The description of the state of the economy this time, however, appears more tentative than the wording used in August. The report last month said, "The economy is recovering at a solid pace as improvements in the corporate sector are extending into the household sector."