TOKYO, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Cabinet Office said on Friday that the situation for the nation's economy is "improving" as key indexes posted rises in November, signalling that the country's tentative recovery is continuing.

    The composite index of coincident economic indicators rose by 1.6 points to 95.9 against a 2005 base of 100. The list of leading indicators, which predicts economic conditions in a few months, rose by 1.8 points to 98.2, while the index of lagging indicators fell by 0.9 points to 82.8.

    The indexes take in statistics from all aspects of the Japanese economy to demonstrate both the conditions at present and the future outlook for Japan.

    In November, the job market continued to pick up, with 530,725 people, excluding new graduates, receiving job offers, up from 528,968 in October. There was bad news, however, with the unemployment rate increasing by 0.1 percent to 5.2 percent.

    The index of producer's shipments of durable consumer goods also showed a marked improvement in November, dropping by just 0.5percent, compared to a year-on-year decrease of 14.2 percent in October.

    Consumer sentiment, however, continued to fall. The Consumer confidence index decreased by 0.9 points, standing at 39.9.

    The amount of new housing being built in Japan posted an increase, signaling that consumers may be gaining the confidence to make large investments once more, with 5.877 million square meters of new housing construction started in November, compared with 5.611 million square meters in October.

    Meanwhile, large industrial power consumption, a key indicator of activity in manufacturing, increased to 22,524 million kwh from 22,030 million kwh in October.

    Small- and medium-size industry however did not do as well. Sales dropped by 1.1 points to 89.0 and shipments dropped by one point to 84.6.

    Japan is currently struggling with a weak economy and deflation in the aftermath of the credit crisis that originated in the United States in the summer of 2008. Despite improvements in the manufacturing sector since the summer, households and consumers are yet to feel the benefits of stimulus packages and actions by institutions such as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to reinvigorate the economy.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis