{"id":120606,"date":"2021-08-30T18:36:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=120606"},"modified":"2021-08-30T18:36:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:36:50","slug":"japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan\u2019s retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in July, beating expectations as the consumer sector continued its recovery, although a coronavirus resurgence has cast doubts over the spending outlook.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: A shopper looks at goods at Japan’s supermarket group Aeon’s shopping mall as the mall reopens amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Chiba, Japan May 28, 2020. REUTERS\/Kim Kyung-Hoon\/File Photo <\/figcaption>

A surge in Delta variant cases this month forced the government to widen state of emergency restrictions, which are now threatening to hurt consumer spending and derail a fragile economic recovery.<\/p>\n

Retail sales advanced 2.4% in July from the same month a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, slightly faster than economists\u2019 median forecast for a 2.1% rise in a Reuters poll. It followed a 0.1% increase in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent strength in retail sales is unlikely to last,\u201d Marcel Thieliant, Senior Japan Economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe severe Delta wave now hitting the country coupled with an ever-expanding list of prefectures under states of emergency resulted in a renewed weakening in consumption this quarter,\u201d Thieliant said.<\/p>\n

The better-than-expected rise in retail sales in July came as authorities struggled here to get a defiant public to heed stay-at-home restrictions in major cities like Tokyo, which hosted the Olympics during the month.<\/p>\n

The trade ministry data found strong demand for a variety of items such as cars, clothing, general merchandise and food while fuel was helped by higher petrol prices.<\/p>\n

Small retail establishments like convenience stores and drug stores saw biggest sales growth from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

However, growth was also flattered by the comparison with last year\u2019s steep slide, when consumer demand was hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Compared with the previous month, retail sales gained a seasonally adjusted 1.1% as consumption continued the surprising growth seen in the second-quarter, helped by the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s third-largest economy grew at a better-than-expected rate in the April-June quarter, thanks largely to private consumption, which makes up more than half of the country\u2019s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n

But rebounding consumer activity poses a challenge to policymakers as the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 upends the nation\u2019s healthcare system, with state of emergency curbs now covering nearly 80% of Japan\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople\u2019s mobility has been decreasing, and consumption may peak out in August,\u201d said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Economic Research Institute, noting that the downward trend could drag until September.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan\u2019s retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in July, beating expectations as the consumer sector continued its recovery, although a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":120605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan\u2019s retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in July, beating expectations as the consumer sector continued its recovery, although a [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-COVID-19-challenges-persist.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/\",\"name\":\"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Markets\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/markets\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fin2me\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"Mark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me","og_description":"TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan\u2019s retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in July, beating expectations as the consumer sector continued its recovery, although a [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/","og_site_name":"Fin2me","article_published_time":"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00","author":"Mark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-COVID-19-challenges-persist.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/","name":"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist - Fin2me","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-30T18:36:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/japans-retail-sales-extend-gains-but-covid-19-challenges-persist\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Markets","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/markets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Japan's retail sales extend gains but COVID-19 challenges persist"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/","name":"Fin2me","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"Mark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}