Business sentiment among workers in Japan with jobs sensitive to economic trends rose in May for the first time in four months, as the country emerged from a coronavirus state of emergency, government data showed Monday.
The diffusion index of confidence among "economy watchers" such as taxi drivers and restaurant staff rose 7.6 points from the previous month to 15.5, the Cabinet Office said.
Still, it was the third-lowest reading since comparable data became available in January 2002, behind 7.9 in April this year and 14.2 in March as the pandemic hindered economic activities across the country.