Household spending fell in November for the first time in three months, a sign of unexpected fragility in consumption even before the omicron variant of the virus started to spread.
Spending declined 1.2% from the prior month, led by drops in outlays on housing, education and transportation, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. Overall expenditures were 1.3% below 2020’s level, compared with economists’ expectations for a 1.2% increase.
Separate reports showed Tokyo inflation rose 0.5% last month from a year ago, the highest level since February 2020. Wages were flat in November, showing how much work Prime Minister Fumio Kishida must do to stoke the pay hikes he’s called for as a centerpiece of his economic agenda.