Japan's consumer confidence improved in January for the fourth straight month, hitting its highest level in over two years as higher consumer prices began to steadily ease, the government said Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted index of sentiment among households made up of two or more people rose 0.8 points to 38.0, its highest level since December 2021.
The index indicates consumers' economic expectations for the coming six months, with a reading below 50 suggesting that pessimists outnumber optimists.
The rise "can likely be attributed to a steady fall in food prices and an improvement in labor conditions, including increasing wages," a government official said.
However, sentiment around the Hokuriku region in Japan, including Ishikawa Prefecture, fell following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck the region on New Year's Day, the official said.
The Cabinet Office upgraded its basic assessment of the index, saying consumer confidence is "improving." In December, it said it "continued to pick up."
Among the survey's four components, consumers' assessment of livelihoods grew 0.8 points to 36.5 following a 1.6 point rise in December, while their readiness to buy new durable goods increased 1.4 points to 32.8 from the previous month.
The survey showed a total of 91.1 percent of households expected consumer prices to rise in the year ahead, with 38.4 percent expecting it to climb more than 5 percent.
The consumer confidence survey covered 8,400 households, including 3,024 single-member households, with valid responses received from 7,774, or 92.5 percent.
