Off the wire
• Army major shot dead in S. Philippines  • Downpour causes ten deaths in south China  • Natural disasters kill 123 in May  • Japan edge Switzerland 1-0 in Women's World Cup  • Macao raises MERS respond level to "High Alert"  • Chinese shares close lower Tuesday  • Orca calf sighted off Western Australia coast  • Tokyo stocks dive to 3-week low on concerns over Japanese economy  • 2nd LD-Writethru: China's producer prices continue to slide  • China, Russia wrap up search for WWII Soviet Union soldiers' remains  
You are here: 　 Home

Japan consumer confidence in May declines for 2nd straight month

Xinhua, June 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Japanese consumer confidence in May worsened for the second consecutive month amid rising prices of goods such as food, government data showed Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted index of sentiment among households made up of two or more people fell 0.1 point from April to 41.4, the Cabinet Office said. A reading below 50 suggests pessimists outnumber optimists.

The Cabinet downgraded its basic assessment of the index, saying the pace of a pickup in consumer confidence is "becoming moderate," compared with "picking up" by the Cabinet in the previous report.

Of the four components, those for employment conditions and the timing of new durable goods purchases declined 1.4 points to 47.2 and 0.1 point to 39.6, respectively.

Meanwhile, consumers' view of their livelihoods improved 0.4 point to 38.8, while their assessment of income growth rose 0.5 point to 39.8, according to the Cabinet Office.

The latest survey was conducted as local media reported an increase in prices of everyday items such as chocolate and liquor, according to a government official. Average gasoline prices also rose in May from the previous month, the official said. Endi