The average of household spending in Japan slipped 0.5 percent on year in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday - standing at 278,067 yen.
The headline figure beat forecasts for a decline of 1.4 percent following the downwardly revised 2.3 percent contraction in June (originally 2.2 percent).
The average of monthly income per household stood at 574,227 yen, down 1.8 percent on year.
The average of consumption expenditures per household was 302,422 yen, down an annual 3.5 percent.
Among the individual categories, spending on communication tumbled 8.5 percent on year, followed by clothing (-7.0 percent), recreation (-3.3 percent) and fuel (-2.1 percent).
Spending on furniture spiked an annual 9.1 percent, followed by medical care (2.0 percent) and food (0.9 percent).
Also on Tuesday, the ministry said:
• The jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent in July. That beat forecasts for 3.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the June reading.
The job-to-applicant ratio was 1.37 - unchanged from the previous month although missing forecasts for 1.38. The participation rate was 60.3 percent.
The number of employed persons in July was 64.79 million, an increase of 980,000 or 1.5 percent on year.
The number of unemployed persons in July was 2.03 million, a decrease of 190,000 or 8.6 percent on year.
• Retail sales in Japan fell 0.2 percent on year in July - topping forecasts for a decline of 0.9 percent following the upwardly revised 1.3 percent contraction in June (originally -1.4 percent).
Sales from large retailers climbed 0.6 percent on year - missing expectations for 0.9 percent after tumbling 1.5 percent in the previous month.
On a monthly basis, retail sales jumped 1.4 percent - beating forecasts for 0.8 percent and up from 0.3 percent a month earlier.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.