国际英语新闻：Japan's economy may be at a turning point: Cabinet office

TOKYO, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Cabinet Office in Japan has said that data analyzed in the Indexes of Business Conditions from September may be signal "a possible turning point" for an economy that has experienced difficulties since the summer of 2008 in a report released on Friday.

    The report measures activity in areas of the economy such as industrial production, power consumption and job offers, and in September, almost all measures posted small rises.

    Most measures in the report, however, posted indices of well below 100, the 2005 bench line from which the statistics are measured. Notably, the rate of job offers stands at 0.43, meaning there is less than one job offer for every two applicants.

    The coincident index graph has been rising since April this year, when conditions were at their worst.

    Japan's economy has suffered dire conditions since the credit crisis that originated in the United States hit its shores last year, but in recent months the manufacturing sector has started a slow recovery. Households, however, have yet to feel the benefits of the recent improvements