COVID-19 measures drag Japan’s household spending in Feb

Japan saw a decline in household spending, marking the third consecutive month of contraction in February. Data released on Friday showed that the drop was mainly from the country’s implementation of coronavirus measures in a bid to combat the coronavirus. This, in turn, dragged economic outlook and consumption.

On an annualized basis, household spending recorded a 6.6% contraction in February. The figure came larger than the 6.1% drop seen in January and sharper than the 5.3% decline expected by markets, government data showed.

More so, analysts rendered a dim outlook for the first quarter of the year as a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas disrupted the country’s business activity.

Separate data showed that the country’s inflation-adjusted real wages expanded for the first time in a year. The February reading could be attributed to a decline in prices as the coronavirus crisis took a heavy toll on the economy.