Salaried workers' households spent less in fiscal 2000 than the previous year for a record fourth straight yearly fall, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said Friday.

Wage-earning households spent an average of 341,335 yen per month in the fiscal year through March 31, down 0.4 percent in real terms from the previous year. But per capita spending nosed up 1.3 percent to 98,652 yen for the first rise in four years.

A ministry official noted that while household spending "has stopped its decline," the continued climate of poor incomes is keeping purse strings tight.