Japan consumer confidence logs 29-month high

There is another layer to this story.

The Cabinet Office did report consumer confidence index in Japan was up 1.4 points from the previous month to 39.2 in October of 2021; the strongest reading since May 2019.

BUT They also reported that the sub-indices deteriorated for overall livelihood (down 0.1 points to 39.1) and willingness to buy durable goods (down 0.1 points to 37.7).

As for the main number, for useful comparison: Consumer Confidence in Japan averaged 41.46 points from 1982 until 2021, reaching an all time high of 50.80 points in December of 1988 and a record low of 21.60 points in April of 2020.

Also reported on the same day: Industrial production in Japan dropped by 5.4 percent month-over-month in September 2021, compared with market consensus of 3.2 percent fall and after a 3.6 percent decline. This marked the third straight month of contraction in industrial output and the steepest pace in the sequence, amid the rising Delta strain of COVID-19 cases across the country and persistent supply chain disruptions. Industries that mainly contributed to the decrease were motor vehicles (-28.2 percent vs -15.2 percent in August), general-purpose and business-oriented machinery (-5.7 percent vs -0.7 percent), and plastic products (-7.0 percent vs -2.0 percent). On a yearly basis, industrial output fell by 2.3 percent in September, reversing from a 8.8 percent gain in August and marking the first yearly drop in seven months.

propaganda flying in the face of reality.

I really find this number hard to believe. With everything rising in Japan, from gas, to food, to electricity, the amount of money people have to spend is decreasing. And while some people were able to maintain there salaries during the pandemic, many lost bonus money and others had salaries cut or lost completely. So, where is this confidence coming from? I am skeptical.

The value is far below 50 which indicates more people are ‘pessimistic’ then optimistic.

Being an ANA or an HIS employee where would that number be?

What this article seems to omit is that inbound tourism is non existent and that Japan’s industrial output fell to its lowest level in 13 months in September, with the sharpest decline seen in the automotive industry due to the global shortage of semiconductors.

Poverty increases…