Japan November Household Spending Set for First Rise in 4 Months, Omicron Poses Risks: Poll

Japan November Household Spending Set for First Rise in 4 Months, Omicron Poses Risks: Poll
People are reflected in the windows of a department store in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on June 29, 2016. Toru Hanai/Reuters
|Updated:

TOKYO—Japan’s household spending likely rose in November for the first time in four months while consumer inflation in Tokyo area is expected to have hit a 22-month-high in December, a Reuters poll showed.

Low coronavirus cases have boosted consumption and the broader economy throughout the last quarter of 2021, but the recent spread of the new Omicron variant and increasing cost of goods have raised some concerns about Japan’s recovery this year.