TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s average household spending posted the seventh
straight year-on-year drop in September as the car market remained
sluggish and demand for TVs continued to wane after rush purchases in
July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed Friday.
Household spending fell to a real Y270,010 in September, down 1.9%
from a year earlier, following a 4.1% drop in August. The September
figure was the smallest y/y drop since -1.2% in May.
The fall in September came in smaller than the median forecast for
a 3.3% drop in a Market News International survey of economists.
The decline in September was led by a continued sharp drop in
spending on automobiles and a pullback in spending on TVs. Many
households had already bought new digital TVs ahead of July 24, when
Japan terminated analogue broadcasting services.
In nominal terms, spending also fell 1.9% y/y in September.
The average real income of salaried workers’ households fell 0.7%
from a year earlier in September to Y422,720, the second straight y/y
drop after -1.7% in August.
Real disposable income in the average salaried workers’ household
fell 1.4% in September from a year before to Y347,444, also the second
consecutive y/y drop following -1.9 in August.
tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **
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