Japan's consumer confidence drops as virus surges in December
Source: Xinhua | 2021-01-07
Japan's consumer confidence dropped for the first time in four months in December, owing to a rising number of COVID-19 infections nationwide, the government said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Cabinet Office, the seasonally adjusted index of sentiment among households made up of two or more people dropped to 31.8 from 33.7 in November.
In terms of consumers' economic expectations in the six months ahead, a reading below the boom-or-bust 50 line of the index means that the number of those with pessimistic views outnumber those with optimistic outlooks.
The survey's four components all retreated in the recording period, with sentiment towards employment conditions marking the largest decline, dropping 2.9 points to 23.6.
Willingness to buy durable goods was down 1.9 points to 33.8 and the assessment of livelihoods fell 1.8 points to 34.9.
Income growth, meanwhile, fell 0.7 point to 35.0, the office said.
The latest survey comes ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga likely declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures due to a surging "third wave" of infections, with the Greater Tokyo area now accounting for half of the country's daily infections.
The emergency declaration is expected to be kept in place for roughly one month for Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures.
Restaurants that serve alcohol in the applicable regions have been asked to close by 8 p.m. from Friday, thereafter, all dining facilities including those which do not serve alcohol will be asked to close at 8 p.m. from Jan. 12 through Jan. 31
A state of emergency was declared in Tokyo and six other prefectures on April 7 last year. It was later expanded to cover the whole country before being lifted in late May.
The index hit a record low 21.6 in April, in the wake of the government's first state of emergency declaration over the virus.
The latest survey covered 8,400 households with a valid response rate of 88.3 percent.
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