— Japan Sep Consumer Confidence Index 40.1 Vs Aug 40.5
— Japan Consumer Confidence Index Posts 1st Fall in 2 Months
— Japan Govt Repeats View: Confidence Is Weakening

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s Consumer Confidence Survey index posted the
first fall in two months in September as more people believed that the
labor market would deteriorate in the coming six months, data released
by the Cabinet Office showed on Thursday.

The closely watched index fell to 40.1 last month from 40.5 in
August, when it moved up to the highest level since 40.7 in May.

The Cabinet Office maintained its assessment that “consumer
confidence is weakening.”

In September, three out of four sub-indexes — measuring overall
economic well-being, labor conditions and the timing for buying durable
goods — fell from the previous month.

The labor conditions sub-index dropped 1.0 points to 37.7 while the
sub-index on the timing for buying durable consumer goods fell 0.6
points to 42.2 and the index on general economic well-being dipped 0.1
point to 40.6.

The sub-index for income growth inched up for the second month in a
row.

The latest survey was conducted on Sept. 15, covering 6,720
households, of which 5,032 responded.

Meanwhile, the latest survey indicated consumer inflation
expectations were relatively balanced.

The percentage of people forecasting higher prices in a year’s time
stood at 62.3% of the total on an unadjusted basis in September, up from
62.0 % in the previous month.

The percentage of people expecting lower prices was 6.4% last
month, also up from 6.1% previously.

The percentage of people foreseeing no change in prices stood at
23.3% in September, versus 24.7% in August.

An annual inflation rate below 2% was forecast by 23.1% of those
surveyed in the latest month, versus 22.6% in the previous month.

Inflation in a range of 2% to 5% was forecast by 26.6% of the total
in the latest month, up from 25.6% in the previous month.

Inflation at 5% or over was forecast by 12.6% of the total in the
latest month, versus 13.8% in the previous month.

Price drops of less than 2% were seen by 3.5% of the polled in the
latest month, compared with 3.3% in the previous month.

Price drops in a range of 2% to 5% were forecast by 1.9% of those
surveyed in the latest month, unchanged from the previous month.

The annual rate of price drops at 5% or over was foreseen by 1.0%
of the total in the latest month, up from 0.9% in the previous month.

tokyo@marketnews.com
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