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Household Spending Down for 14th Consecutive Month

  • Category:Event
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Consumption spending fell year on year for the 14th straight month in April, matching the longest losing streak since comparable data became available in January 2001, government data showed Tuesday.

In the latest reporting month, the average spending by households comprising two or more members was down 1.4 percent at ¥295,929, according to the data from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

Consumption spending last fell for 14 consecutive months from March 2008 to April 2009.

Privates consumption “remains weak” as households are keeping their purse strings tight, a ministry official noted, commenting on the latest outcome.

Expenditures on food fell 0.7 percent, down for nine months in a row. Spending decreased mainly on squid and other seafood due to higher prices stemming from poor catches.

Transportation- and communications -related expenditures, including on automobiles, slumped 7.3 percent. Education-related spending, mainly fees for private universities, plunged 15.1 percent.

Meanwhile, spending on housing, including home renovation, jumped 12.1 percent. Expenditures on furniture and household items rose 6.7 percent, and those on clothing and footwear increased 1.7 percent.

The average income at wage-earning households dropped 2.2 percent to ¥472,047 in real terms, down for the second consecutive month.

 

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