(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s household spending edged up in December, capping a solid quarter for consumers and adding to signs the economy rebounded during a lull in virus cases at the end of 2021.
Spending gained 0.1% from November’s level, the ministry of internal affairs reported Tuesday. Compared with the previous quarter, outlays rose 4.6%.
A separate report showed wages fell unexpectedly for the first time in 10 months, illustrating the difficult challenge for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he tries to make pay gains for workers a centerpiece of his economic agenda.
Still, signs of stronger consumer spending to end the year suggest the recovery was building momentum before the omicron variant of the coronavirus triggered a record wave of infections in recent weeks.
The household spending figures are the last big data point the government will use to compile its fourth quarter growth report, due next Tuesday.
Analysts had been forecasting Japan’s lagging economy would finally get on a more sustainable track in the final months of 2021 after shrinking in five of the prior nine quarters. Now, though, the growth projected for last quarter is at risk of being short-lived.
Japan’s Economy Seen at Risk of Shrinking Again Due to Omicron
Daily case numbers have surged more than twenty-fold since the start of the year to above 100,000, deaths from the virus are close to Japan’s worst levels, and consumer confidence has plunged in recent weeks.
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