AS THE KAERU BOILS

Spending slashed as incomes fall again: Wage earners tightened their belts by a mind-boggling 6% in July (The Japan Times, Aug. 30, 2003)

Spending by wage-earner households fell 6 percent in July in real terms from a year earlier for the largest monthly contraction in nine years and reversing the previous month's 0.4 percent increase, the government said Friday.

Average monthly household spending came to 326,772 yen, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said in a preliminary report.

Their average monthly income, including summer bonuses, dropped 1.1 percent in real terms to 575,142 yen, falling for the 16th consecutive month. Disposable income declined a real 1.7 percent to 479,433 yen. [...]

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo edged down 0.3 percent in August from a year earlier for a record 47 consecutive months of decline, the government said in a preliminary report Friday.

But the plaintive cry comes: "They make better cars...." Posted by Orrin Judd at August 29, 2003 8:20 PM