Japan: Consumer confidence decreases in September
Consumer confidence fell to 35.2 in September from August’s 36.2. September’s result marked the weakest sentiment since March. As a result, the index moved further below the 50-threshold, pointing to deeper pessimism among consumers.
Consumers became more pessimistic about the next year regarding their overall livelihood, income, employment and willingness to buy durable goods, driving the deterioration in the index. However, our panelists continue to expect private spending to rebound in Q3 after contracting in Q2. Other high-frequency data for spending in the quarter has been more upbeat: Retail sales grew at a faster rate month on month in July–August than in Q2, for example.