Japan’s consumer confidence up for 1st time in 7-months in January

会计考友

　　TOKYO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Japanese consumer confidence improved for the first time in seven months in January, a Cabinet Office report showed Wednesday.
　　According to the government data, consumer sentiment among households made up of two or more people rose to 41.1 in January from 40.1 in December. A reading below 50 indicates that the number of pessimists outnumber the number of optimists.
+ ^* V, r. g# E: G6 w* t) p) j　　Additionally the Cabinet Offices said that the employment index rose by 2.2 points to 38.6 and consumers' feelings regarding their overall livelihood rose by 0.5 points to 42.7 during the recording period. The index measuring income, meanwhile, inched up 0.2 points to 41.0, the government data showed.
/ a/ M' K* o: K. a3 x- i& O- X. x5 O　　The Cabinet Office upgraded its overall assessment of consumer sentiment from "weakening" to "almost leveling off."
　　The index of consumers' perceptions is calculated based on their answers to specific questions on topics such as their outlook for their living conditions, their feelings towards purchasing durable goods and their employment conditions, among a host of others. Their responses are gauged on a five-tier scale.