The government Tuesday upgraded its basic assessment of the economy for the third straight month as business investment has begun showing signs of bouncing back, using the word "recovery" for the first time in 10 months.
In its monthly economic report for July, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which has been working to end nearly two decades of deflation since its December formation, also gave a brighter view of the country's price situation.
"The Japanese economy is picking up steadily and shows some movements on the way to recovery," the Cabinet Office said in the report, making upward revisions to four of the 14 categories, including capital spending and industrial production.