Japan’s government is expected to maintain its assessment that the economy is recovering in a monthly report due on Thursday, two sources familiar with its thinking said, despite the widening fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. The assessment would come even as data released on Monday showed the world’s third largest economy shrank at the fastest pace in almost six years in the October-December quarter as a sales tax hike hit consumer and business spending. In its monthly report for February to be released on Thursday, the government will make slight tweaks to language describing the economy as “recovering ... (full story)