The government said Friday its key gauge to measure consumer confidence in Tokyo fell in October from the previous month for the third consecutive monthly drop.
The Cabinet Office's Economic and Social Research Institute said its index of consumer confidence in Tokyo fell 1 point to 41.6 as four of the five components posted declines from the previous month.
The index, designed to gauge consumer expectations for the coming six months, is calculated by assigning points on the basis of whether consumers believe conditions in the next six months will improve, improve somewhat, remain unchanged, deteriorate somewhat or deteriorate.
The only component that posted an increase in October was income growth, which was up 1 point to 41.6. The biggest decline was in the index for employment, which fell 3.4 points to 30.5. The index for buying appetite for durable goods was down 1.1 points to 45.
The index was down 1 point to 41.8 for living conditions and 0.8 point to 49 for price trends. The survey was conducted Oct. 15 on 435 randomly selected households, all of which responded.