Spending by wage-earning households fell a real 4.7 percent in January from a year earlier to 323,863 yen, the first decrease in four months, the government said Friday.
Average monthly income in salaried workers' households came to 434,252 yen, down 3.9 percent, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in a preliminary report.
Disposable income fell 4 percent to 367,666 yen for the seventh consecutive monthly decline.
The report says that spending on education slumped 21.4 percent to 15,699 yen, furniture and other household goods expenditures slid 11.1 percent to 9,231 yen and transportation and communications fell 10.1 percent to 42,957 yen. Spending on clothing and footwear dropped 9.7 percent to 15,721 yen, health-care expenditures fell 8.1 percent to 10,908 yen, and spending on cultural and leisure activities declined 7.5 percent to 29,107 yen.
In contrast, spending on housing maintenance climbed 8.5 percent to 20,509 yen, while expenditures for utilities rose 8.0 percent to 28,154 yen.
Personal spending accounts for about 55 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Wage-earning households make up about 60 percent of the total.