MNI 5 THINGS: Japan July Household Spending Up on Heat Wave

--Japan July Household Spending +0.1% Y/Y;MNI Median -1.0% 

--Japan July Household Spending Posts 1st Y/Y Rise in 6 Months 

--Japan Govt Upgrades View on Spending For 1st Time in Over A Year

--Japan July S/A Household Spending -1.1% M/M; June +2.9% 

--Japan July S/A Household Spending Posts 1st M/M Drop in 2 Months

     TOKYO (MNI) - Japan's real average household spending was flat in July but

managed to post a slight gain from a year before, with a continuous heat wave

having both upward and downward effects, data released Friday by the Ministry of

Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

     The key points from the monthly Family Income and Expenditure Survey on

Households.

     * Real average spending by households with two or more people posted the

first year-on-year rise in six months in July, up 0.1%, after adjustment for the

gap caused by using two different survey methods, coming in firmer than the MNI

median economist forecast for a 1.0% fall.

     * The ministry upgraded its assessment on household spending for the first

time since June 2017, saying it is "firm and largely flat." In the previous

three months, it had said that "weakness" was seen in consumption.

     * The July increase was led by a recent pickup in demand for cars and some

payments of mobile communications carried over from June. The heat wave caused

many cases of hospitalization, pushing up medical bills, while it also led more

people to buy takeout food, instead of cooking. On the downside, record high

temperatures reduced spending on eating out.

     * On the month, real average household spending fell 1.1% in July, the

first m/m drop in two months following +2.9% in June.

     * The average real income of households with salaried workers fell 1.6% on

year in July, marking the first drop in two months after a sharp 4.4% rise in

June.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com

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