Japan's household spending rises 1.1 pct on year in February, COVID-19 weighs

TOKYO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's household spending increased a real 1.1 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the second successive month of increase, the government said in a report on Tuesday.

A further increase in spending, however, was capped by the public refraining from eating outdoors as often as usual and buying products like new clothing, owing to COVID-19 restraints, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

Spending by households with two or more people averaged 257,887 yen (about 2,100 U.S. dollars) in the reporting period, the ministry said.

February's uptick in spending came on the heels of a 6.9-percent jump in January, although spending was likely inhibited in the recording period as the majority of the country's 47 prefectures were under a quasi-state of emergency in the month due to the continued spread of COVID-19 at the time, a ministry official said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, spending in the recording period dropped 2.8 percent from a month earlier, following a 1.2-percent drop in January.

Antiviral restrictive measures were implemented by the government in some prefectures in early January in an effort to prevent the further spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The emergency measures were expanded to other prefectures later that month.

Spending on fuel and utilities increased 1.9 percent from a year earlier rising for the first time in 11 months, owing to unseasonably cold weather, the ministry said.

Expenditure on culture and recreation, meanwhile, leapt 5.6 percent to mark the second straight month of increase, as spending on domestic tour packages increased from the previous year, the ministry said.

Spending on food, including restaurants, dropped 3.6 percent owing to the COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency, the statistics bureau said, adding that spending on furniture and household goods fell by 5.0 percent.

The latest data also showed that the average monthly income of salaried households with at least two people edged down a real 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 540,712 yen, marking the first decline in seven months.

Household spending is a key indicator of private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.