In its latest monthly economic assessment on Monday the government maintained its view that Japan's economy has seen increased weakness in some sectors, as measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 continued to weigh on consumption in July.

The economy is showing "further" weakness in some components and remains in a severe situation due to the pandemic, the Cabinet Office said, employing the same wording for the third straight month after downgrading the evaluation in May.

The government's latest view on the overall economic situation came after Tokyo entered a fourth state of emergency over the pandemic July 12, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases following the end of the third emergency late last month.