Japan Oct Household Spending Posts 2nd Straight Drop

— Japan Oct Household Spending -0.1% Y/Y; MNI Forecast -0.7%
— Japan Oct Household Spending Posts 2nd Straight Y/Y Drop

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s average household spending marked a second straight
year-on-year drop in October due to lower spending on renovation and rents, data
from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication Friday showed.

But spending in October at Y284,238 was down only 0.1% in real terms, with
the pace of y/y decline slowing from a 0.9% decrease in September, thanks to
higher spending on airfares and mobile communication charges.

The reading was better than the median forecast for a 0.7% fall in a MNI
survey of economists.

In October, spending on housing, including renovation and rents, dropped
13.5% on year, pushing down the overall spending by 1.04 percentage points.

Meanwhile, spending on transportation and communication, which includes
automobile purchases, rose 7.8% on the year after a 12.3% increase in September,
adding 1.02 percentage points to household spending.

In nominal terms, household spending declined by 0.5% in October following
a 1.2% drop in the previous month.

The average real income of salaried workers’ households rose 0.9% to
Y482,101 in October, marking a third straight rise.

Real disposable income in the average salaried workers’ household declined
0.1% in last month, a second straight fall.

–MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4752-7020; email: yseki@mni-news.com
–MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: msato@mni-news.com

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