Japan May Consumer Confidence Improves for 2nd Month

A shopper wearing a protective mask pushes a shopping cart at Japan's supermarket group Aeon's shopping mall as the mall reopens amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Chiba, Japan on May 28, 2020. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

TOKYO—Japan’s consumer confidence index rose in May for a second straight month, the government said on Tuesday, as households enjoyed the first restriction-free spring holiday season since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Cabinet Office survey showed the sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was at 34.1 in May, up from 33.0 in April.

The government upgraded its assessment of the sentiment index, saying the decline has come to an end.