Japanese government downgraded its assessment of the economy

Japan's government Wednesday slightly downgraded its assessment of the current economic climate for the first time in five months.

In its monthly economic report, the government noted that "weakness is seen" in the economy. This is a slight downward revision from the previous report which said there was "weakness in some areas."

Director of macro-economic analysis at the Cabinet Office said, “We downgraded our economic assessment from the previous month but the government hasn't changed its view on the (sound) economic fundamentals.”