Japan Household Spending Up 0.1 Pct in July

   Tokyo, Sept. 6 (Jiji Press)--Spending by households with two or more members in Japan averaged 290,931 yen in July, up 0.1 pct from a year earlier in inflation-adjusted real terms, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.
   It was the first rise in three months.
   While home-related spending, including on refurbishment and maintenance, which tends to be volatile, expanded, expenditures on food and electricity declined, suggesting that consumers remained budget-minded. Consumption as a whole lacked strength, with fixed-amount tax cuts and wage increases apparently failing to stimulate spending appetite significantly.
   By category, housing-related expenditures, such as spending on equipment for home renovation, jumped 34.6 pct. Spending on television sets soared 74.2 pct thanks to high demand for watching the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic games at home. Expenditures on domestic package tours grew 47.0 pct and those on overseas package tours surged 62.6 pct.
   Meanwhile, expenditures on food fell 1.7 pct, with spending on meat decreasing 5.7 pct.

(2024/09/06-13:38)

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