Japan CCI Drops to 6-Month Low

Japan’s consumer confidence fell for the second successive month in November and to the lowest level in six months, the cabinet office said here Monday, a further sign that the government’s pledges to kickstart the world’s third-largest economy remain elusive, Xinhua reported. According to the latest government figures, the consumer confidence index dropped 1.4 points from a month earlier to 40.9 in November. In September, the index, on a seasonally adjusted basis, stood at 43.0. The current reading marks the lowest since May, when the index also stood at 40.9. Components that led to the index’s decline, the government said, comprised the overall livelihood gauge falling 1.3 points from the previous month to 40.1 in November, with the gauge for income growth standing at 40.4 in the recording month, dropping 0.6 from the previous month. The cabinet office also said that employment and the willingness of consumers to buy durable goods also remained pressured in the recording period, with the gauges standing at 42.5 and 40.5 and falling 2.3 and 1.4 points from the previous month respectively.