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Household spending in Japan posts biggest rise in three years

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Spending on durable goods such as cars and refrigerators climbed. That on air conditioners rose amid a blistering heatwave across the country.

Are you kidding me? Just a few months back there was an article on JT because of the hot summer people are buying more drinks, fans, aircons.... The government is grasping at straws here.

Households also paid more for supplementary education such as cram schools, while spending less on domestic travel and lodging.

That is nothing the government should be proud of! People had to get external education because government provided isn't good enough!

8 ( +9 / -1 )

When the 10% GST comes next year, will be a much different story..

8 ( +8 / -0 )

This is exactly an another Abenomics slogan...

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Get tired of these fluff stories. Tell it how it is! People are struggling to happiness because of the economy.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

As always, rich companies, richer. Poor salary man, poorer. The things that people spend on are necessary - education, fridge, AC/heater. Thus, shoganai.

When are we going to see the headline "Travel and Leisure spending increase" which means that people can take several days off without feeling bad and have enough money to spend on it with the family.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

prompting the ministry to say household spending is "beginning to pick up," 

But unfortunately people don’t receive bonuses every month, so it’s unlikely the increase will be sustained.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Smoke and mirrors reporting most company employees got their mid-year bonuses and turned them into our shades of essential items they could not normally afford.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Report back when this is sustained for 4 quarters in a row then I might start paying attention a little bit.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Apologies for the autocorrect errors in my previous post. The increase in spending is on necessary daily goods, which coincides with the mid-year bonuses for full-time employees. It does not reflect a turnaround in spending habits in the slightest. International travel and study abroad programs are still at 50% of what they were 10-15 years ago. Large department stores like Mitsukoshi are still struggling in a drop of 25% sales over the last five years since the first sales tax hike. The second round of sales tax increase next year will no doubt result in a further decrease in spending. Unemployment remains low due to the labor shortage. However, 60% of the workforce are on part-time or short-term contracts with low salaries and no job security. These do not reflect any kind of economic growth. It only reflect consumers are learning to live with the stagnated economy. All the discount and outlet stores and ¥100 shops are thriving, which tells you people are nearly broke.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Are you kidding me? Just a few months back there was an article on JT because of the hot summer people are buying more drinks, fans, aircons.... The government is grasping at straws here.

"Spending on straws up 50%"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Looking for extra work, everything is 20 percent more expansive. I love abenomics

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I hope the man in the photo isn't super-optimistic because if he was we would be looking at a Bull in a China Shop!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nope don't believe it's sustainable, true air conditioner's would certainly have been in demand recently but the people that were spending were the Asian tourists mainly Chinese. Only a few months back the internal economy was supposed to have been going backwards.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

We've been spending more on daily necessities due to recent Natural disasters...

And as to Aircons, etc... getting a new one installed during that period was impossible since there's a pre-existing backlog. ( I know, since my own late 1990's era one, finally gave up just before the recent heatwave). So, maybe like me, it's just a cyclical thing - after X years people need to replace certain items.

Well, it's going to get more expensive too I reckon, Oil prices are up, and Japan would appear to be currently dependent upon Oil for energy needs.

I tend to agree with the last part of what "@Do the hustle" has to say, at least we haven't introduced Food Banks here yet in Japan as has been done back in the UK, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them appear.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It was the second consecutive month of gains following a 0.1 percent increase in July, prompting the ministry to say household spending is "beginning to pick up,"

No economist in their right mind would say it’s beginning to pick up until at least a quarter of steady 1%+ growth. This LDP propaganda machine is a joke! 0.1% is barely a heart beat.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Blip.  and anyway so what?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

As long as the demographics do not change, it is going to be a long downhill slope for the next couple of decades. Sure, maybe an Olympic blip or some other one-time event. Commenting on these small upticks every couple of months and getting the masses excited just ignores the inevitable unless something fundamental changes.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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