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TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government on Wednesday maintained its overall assessment that the economy here is recovering at a moderate rate although consumption is still showing signs of weakness.

Exports have been recovering and the employment situation is improving, the Cabinet Office said, while also retaining its views on all other components in May, including capital expenditure and consumption, which it said has been picking up "as a whole" but still lacking momentum.

"The economy is in moderate recovery, but delays in improvement can be seen in some parts," the Cabinet Office said in its monthly economic report on Wednesday, providing the same assessment for the sixth successive month.

Japan's economy is showing embryonic signs of recovery owing to increased exports as global demand picks up, which in turn has buoyed factory output and capital expenditure here.

The economy grew an annualized real 2.2 percent in the January-March quarter, marking the fifth successive quarter of expansion, the latest figures showed.

The preliminary reading for gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter came in ahead of median economists' estimates for an expansion of 1.7 percent and follows a 1.4 percent annualized rate of expansion logged in the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said recently.

Private consumption, a key component of the country's GDP, was up 0.4 percent and solid exports also contributed to the expansion, the office said.

According to the most recent figures from the Finance Ministry, Japan booked a trade surplus of 481.75 billion yen (4.3 billion U.S. dollars) in April, owing to ongoing growth in exports to Asia.

Exports were up 7.5 percent in the recording period on year to 6.33 trillion yen and imports gained 15.1 percent to 5.88 trillion yen.

Trade with China was robust, with Japan logging a deficit for a second straight month at 243.04 billion yen. Exports to China leapt 14.8 percent to 1.19 trillion yen, while imports in the same period grew 7.5 percent to 1.43 trillion yen.

As for trade with the United States, the surplus stood at 586.74 billion yen, which comprised of exports gaining 2.6 percent to 1.23 trillion yen and imports jumping 9.8 percent at 645.49 billion yen in the recording period. (1 Japanese yen = 0.0089 U.S. dollar)