Japanese household spending rises 3.7% in September

Japan's average household spending in September rose 3.7 percent year-on-year, easily outstripping economists' forecasts, official figures showed Tuesday. The average income of working households in September also rose 0.9 percent in real terms, the internal affairs ministry reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted a rise of just 0.5 percent in household spending, a key indicator of private consumption. Japan's conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to drag Japan out of its 15-year deflationary spiral with a policy blitz dubbed "Abenomics", aimed at lifting prices and wages to get the economy moving again. Central to that effort is the Bank of Japan's huge monetary easing drive, unveiled in April, and a two-percent inflation target. The government last week reported the broader consumer price index, which measures a basket of everyday goods but excludes the cost of fresh food, rose 0.7 percent in September from a year earlier, the fourth consecutive monthly rise. Separate data released on Tuesday said Japan's jobless rate improved to 4.0 percent in September, down by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The reading was in line with forecasts by economists, according to Dow Jones. The number of unemployed stood at 2.58 million, down by 170,000 from the same month a year ago and the 40th consecutive monthly fall, the ministry reported.