Japan's 2010 economic outlook.

I rarely cut and paste entire articles but I am sure that there are many who are concerned about the Japanese economy despite what Marc Faber might say about being a contrarian.  So, I am sharing this latest report from Bloomberg here:

Double-dip worries abating

Tokyo upgrades economic view for first time since July


05:55 AM, Mar 16, 2010, TOKYO - The Japanese government yesterday raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in eight months, saying the recovery had begun to spur profits, home building and consumer spending.

"The economy has been picking up steadily," though it remains in a "difficult situation" because of high unemployment, the Cabinet Office said in its report for March. It added that the rebound was still weak.

Reports in the past month have shown that the nation's export-led recovery is starting to benefit consumers, with wages rising for the first time in 20 months in January and households increasing spending for a sixth month. Yesterday's upgrade comes on the eve of the Bank of Japan's board meeting, where the central bank may expand credit measures amid deflation.

"There are budding signs for a self-sustaining recovery in domestic private demand," Finance Minister Naoto Kan said yesterday.

"Concerns over a double- dip recession are abating," he added.

The Cabinet Office raised its evaluation of corporate profits, business investment, consumer spending, housing construction and employment.

The upgrade of five components is the most since July 2009. The government had said last month that the recovery was "short of autonomous factors".

Earnings are "improving" and capital spending "is starting to level off", the report said. Housing construction and private consumption are "picking up", it said.

Profits surged 102.2 per cent in the three months ended Dec 31 from a year earlier, the first increase in 10 quarters, a Finance Ministry report showed this month. Capital spending fell 18.5 per cent, the smallest decline in a year.

The unemployment rate dropped to a 10-month low of 4.9 per cent in January. Though the labour market remains severe, evidence of an "incipient recovery can be seen recently", the government said.

The improvements in the job market helped consumer confidence climb to a four-month high in February, a separate Cabinet Office report showed yesterday. Bloomberg