TOKYO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese consumer confidence saw slight improvements last month amid surging prices, government data showed Monday.
The seasonally adjusted index of sentiment among households made up of two or more people edged up 0.2 points from May to 36.4, the Cabinet Office said in its monthly survey.
A reading below 50 suggests pessimists outnumber optimists.
The cabinet maintained its basic assessment of the index, saying the consumer sentiment in June showed a "slowdown in the pace of improvement" due to the small rise.
Of the four sub-indices reflecting consumer perception, those for willingness to buy durable goods and assessment of income growth rose 0.6 points to 29.6 and 0.7 points to 40.6, respectively.
Meanwhile, consumers' view of their overall livelihood downgraded by 0.1 points to 33.8, while that of employment conditions came in at 41.7, down 0.3 points from the previous month, according to the Cabinet Office.
In terms of price expectations, 93.8 percent of the surveyed expected prices in the country to go up during the year, up 0.3 points from the previous month, the data showed.
The survey, which is carried out every month to gain a quick understanding of shifts in consumer perception as a tool for evaluating economic trends, was latest conducted from June 6 to 20, covering 8,400 households in total. ■
