The Bank of Japan left its monetary easing program on hold, stating that it stood ready to defend its 2% inflation goal if necessary. The survey is closely watched by economists because it typically reflects the true underlying strengths or weaknesses in the labor market. However, because of the slow rate of price growth, economists took this as a sign that the central bank would move to further defend its inflation target, potentially enlarging its expansion of the monetary base and pushing back the date of its inflation target from 2015 to 2016.