TOKYO, June 7 (Xinhua) — Japan’s real household spending gained 0.5 percent in April from a year earlier although consumption remained sluggish amid soaring prices, government data showed on Friday.
Households of two or more people spent an average of 313,300 yen (about 2,000 U.S. dollars), reversing the 1.2-percent fall in March with the first increase in 14 months, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, spending fell 1.2 percent from the previous month for the first time in three months, against an estimated rise.
“The weakening trend in real personal consumption will remain unchanged even after the start of this fiscal year,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, citing the weak month-on-month change.
The average monthly income per workers’ household in April was down 0.6 percent in real terms from the previous year, said the ministry report.
By category, food expenditure, accounting for around one-third of household spending, shrank by 2.7 percent year-on-year in real terms, amid rising prices of dining out and beverages during the reported period.
Outlays for transportation and communications, which include the purchase of automobiles, were down 10.2 percent, which, according to local analysts, was attributed to the spillover damage of production and shipment suspension by some automakers due to quality irregularities.
Accounting for more than half of Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP), household spending is a key gauge of private consumption in the country.
Separate labor ministry data on Wednesday showed that Japan’s real wages in April dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier for the 25th straight month of decline, the longest since comparable data became available in 1991.
