TOKYO: Japan's household spending posted its first gain in four months in March, data showed on Tuesday, as consumer demand rebounded strongly from the heavy blow it took from coronavirus emergency curbs last year.
But an extension of new state of emergency restrictions and slow vaccine rollouts are clouding the outlook for the world's third-largest economy, which is already likely to have shrunk in the first quarter due to the drag of the pandemic.Household spending surged 6.2per cent in March from a year earlier, after a 6.6per cent decline in February, government data showed, and was stronger than a median market forecast for a 1.5per cent gain in a Reuters poll.
The month-on-month figures were also positive, posting a 7.2per cent rise compared with a forecast of a 2.1per cent gain. But the data was unlikely to dispel worries that Japan's economic recovery lags that of other major economies after the government last week expanded emergency curbs to halt the latest rise in COVID-19 infections.
The Japanese government has already deployed huge monetary and fiscal stimulus to help the economy withstand a blow to global trade from the health crisis, and the heavy toll it has taken on consumer sentiment which has hurt services spending.
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