In this May 18, 2021 file photo, customers are seen shopping at a department store in Tokyo. (Mainichi/Kentaro Ikushima)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's household spending fell a real 1.9 percent in September from a year earlier, down for the second straight month, as consumption was affected by sluggish car sales and a prolonged state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Friday.

       Average spending by households with two or more people in real terms stood at 265,306 yen ($2,330), according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. It declined 3.0 percent in August.

       By component, transportation and telecommunication outlays shrank 6.5 percent, contributing most to the overall decrease. Spending on cars has been slow recently as a global semiconductor crunch, as well as parts supply disruption resulting from virus infection surges in Southeast Asia, forced automakers to cut output.

       A 3.5 percent fall in expenditures on food including dining out under the nation's months-long virus emergency through the end of September also weighed on the overall consumption.

       In an effort to curb a coronavirus resurgence driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, the measure targeted 21 out of Japan's 47 prefectures including Tokyo at the beginning of September. Under the emergency, people were requested to stay at home and restaurants and bars were asked to close early and to not serve alcohol.

       On a seasonally adjusted basis, however, September spending rose 5.0 percent from August in real terms for the first increase in five months, as the country saw a remarkable drop in the number of new virus infections since its peak in late August, although the emergency declaration remained.

       Amid steady progress in the government's vaccine rollout, the decrease in virus cases led the latest state of emergency to be fully lifted on Oct. 1 and restrictions on economic activities to be gradually eased.

       "The situation over the virus is getting better, but household spending is unlikely to recover rapidly since the government has been relaxing (anti-virus measures) in stages," a ministry official told reporters.

       As for other categories, outlays for entertainment services decreased 8.6 percent from a year before, with those for domestic and overseas package tours still weak. In the same month a year earlier, the state-subsidized "Go To Travel" campaign boosted such spending to some extent.

       The program to boost the virus-hit domestic tourism sector has been suspended nationwide since December, when the nation was seeing an expansion in COVID-19 cases. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the government will consider resuming it following a recent sharp drop in infections.

       Meanwhile, housing expenditures rose 5.3 percent, with the official saying that outlays on rent have been rising especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area as an increasing number of people are moving in search of space and comfort with the pandemic having forced them to spend more time at home.

       The average monthly income of salaried households with at least two people rose a real 2.5 percent to 481,800 yen in September, up for the second consecutive month.

       Household spending is a key indicator of private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.

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