The February Consumer Confidence Index, which indicates consumers' willingness to shop, improved for the third consecutive month due to factors such as an increase in the number of companies willing to raise wages.
The "Consumer Confidence Index" asks 8,400 households nationwide about their living conditions in the next six months, whether it is time to buy cars and home appliances, etc., and shows the consumer sentiment as an index.
In a survey conducted last month, the index for households with two or more people was 31.1, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, marking the third straight month of improvement.
However, the Cabinet Office left its basic judgment on consumer sentiment at "weak movements are seen."
The Cabinet Office said
that while the number of companies willing to raise wages increased, indicators related to income growth, etc. increased, while the
overall index increased slightly due to successive price hikes of food and other items. I think I stayed.
In addition, when asked about the outlook for prices one year from now, 66.8% of households answered that they would "rise by 5% or more," the highest percentage since April 2013 when the survey began in its current form. rice field.
The Cabinet Office said, ``While indicators related to income and the employment environment have risen, rising prices continue to have a negative effect on consumer sentiment, and we would like to carefully monitor trends.''