The government said Wednesday it has revised upward its August economic assessment for 10 of Japan's 11 regions compared with May, citing a pickup in auto production and electronic devices thanks to economic stimulus measures, including tax breaks for environmentally friendly vehicles.

It is the most extensive upgrading of the regional economic assessment since the government raised its view for all 11 regions in May 2002, the Cabinet Office said.

The 11 regions are Hokkaido, Tohoku, northern Kanto, southern Kanto, Tokai, Hokuriku, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa.

After having described all regional economic situations as deteriorating more or less in May, the office rated Tohoku, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu as showing recoveries, Hokkaido, Tokai and Kinki as having already ceased to decline, and northern Kanto, southern Kanto and Hokuriku as showing signs of ceasing to decline.

Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, was the only region for which the government left its economic assessment unchanged.