Japan’s household spending increases less than expected in July

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on Friday that the Japanese household spending increased 0.8 percent y-o-y in July, following a 2.7 percent y-o-y surge in June.

Economists had expected household spending to rise 1.1 percent m-o-m in July.

Individually, spending increased for medical care (+8.5 percent y-o-y), housing (+6.3 percent y-o-y), education (+3.8 percent y-o-y), transportation and communication (+2.0 percent y-o-y) and culture & recreation (+2.0 percent y-o-y), but reduced for furniture & household utensils (-7.5 percent y-o-y), utilities (-3.4 percent y-o-y), apparel (-3.4 percent y-o-y), and food (-0.5 percent y-o-y).

In m-o-m terms, household spending fell 0.9 percent in July after a 2.8 percent drop in June.