Household spending increased a real 3.4 percent in July from a year earlier, helped by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions that prompted a rise in recreational and dining expenditure, government data showed Tuesday, in a fresh sign of a gradual return to normalcy.Average spending by households with two or more people stood at 285,313 yen ($2,031), up for the second straight month, but the figure was still lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.Rising prices and a recent resurge in COVID-19 cases cast a pall over the strength of a re…READ FULL ARTICLE
