Retail sales in Japan rose less than forecast in April, signalling a weak start to the second quarter for an economy that is still weighed down by last year’s sales-tax increase.
Sales climbed 0.4 percent from March, when they dropped 1.8 percent, government data released Thursday showed. Economists had forecast a gain of 1.1 percent. Sales jumped 5 percent from April last year, when the first bump in the levy since 1997 hurt spending.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to sustain a recovery from a recession last year that was triggered by the tax hike. The government is counting on companies to boost wages to support consumption, as policymakers gird for another hike in the books – still to be approved by Abe – in 2017.
(Source: The Japan Times Online)