1.   At a separate news conference Friday, Economy Minister Taro Aso said the government will downgrade its assessment of the economy in an upcoming monthly report.

2.   Investors got more bad news on Friday when the government downgraded its assessment of the economy in March, following a downgrade the previous month.

3.   Investors in Japan got more bad news on Friday when the government downgraded its assessment of the economy in March, following a downgrade the previous month.

4.   Investors in Japan got more bad news on Friday as the government downgraded its assessment of the economy in March, following a downgrade the previous month.

5.   On Thursday, the government downgraded its assessment for the economy for the fifth straight month.

6.   The agency downgraded its assessments of housing, production, labor conditions and corporate profits.

7.   The agency on Monday also downgraded its assessment of business confidence, employment, and exports and imports.

8.   The BOJ is expected Monday to downgrade its assessment of the economy, paving the way for a change in rates, the Nihon Keizai financial daily said Thursday.

9.   The central bank further downgraded its assessment of private consumption, noting that weakness in consumption has become more conspicuous.

10.   The government also downgraded its assessment of the domestic labor market to reflect the fall in job offers in February.