Japanese consumer sentiment deteriorated in the three months to September for the first time in four quarters, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said Monday.
In the quarterly survey, the diffusion index, which is calculated by subtracting the percentage of people feeling conditions are worse than a year ago from those feeling an improvement, stood at minus 43.1, down 3.6 points on year, the central bank said.
The number of people who said their income fell from a year earlier rose by 4.9 points from the June survey to 50.1 percent, while those who expect their income to decline a year from now also increased.
Consumer sentiment about the economy one year ahead also worsened with the index falling 10.1 points to minus 36.1.
The BOJ conducted the latest survey between Aug. 9 and Sept. 4 on 4,000 people aged 20 or older, of whom 2,199, or 55.0 percent, gave valid responses./.