By Megumi Fujikawa
TOKYO-- The Bank of Japan lowered its economic assessment for seven of the country's nine regions, while maintaining its view for the other two areas.
The central bank said in its quarterly regional economic report released Thursday that the economy was picking up in most regions, although there was some weakness.
Local companies were facing severe labor shortages and considering wage increases to attract workers, it said.
The BOJ last month decided to end some of its easy-policy measures, including negative interest rates and its yield curve control, after big Japanese companies announced solid pay increases for this year.
The report also showed some companies were still struggling to catch up with the trend.
A food company in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido said it would be difficult to give raises as large as last year because clients, such as supermarkets, wouldn't approve price increases to compensate for higher labor costs, according to the report.
Write to Megumi Fujikawa at megumi.fujikawa@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-04-24 0203ET
