Japan's economy remains relatively weak. Exports and industrial production have decreased, mainly due to the fact that overseas economies remain in a deceleration phase. Business fixed investment has shown some weakness on the whole, although resilience has been observed in nonmanufacturing. In contrast, public investment has continued to increase, and housing investment has generally been picking up. Private consumption has remained resilient and the effects of the decline in car sales due to the ending of some measures to stimulate demand for automobiles have diminished.