Wage-earning households spent 1.6 percent more in real terms in October than they did a year earlier, the first rise in seven months, the government said Friday.

Average spending by such households came to 331,546 yen, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said in a preliminary report.

A ministry official attributed the upturn to a special factor -- increased spending on education as people who normally pay college tuition in September paid in October because of a national holiday in late September.

As a result, education spending shot up 14.7 percent to an average 24,118 yen.

The official said it is too early to say whether spending has begun an upward trend and that he wants to see figures for October for all households, due for release Dec. 7.

Spending on transportation and communications surged 16 percent to 44,820 yen as spending on car purchases and phone calls increased.

Food expenses, the biggest spending category for households, dropped 2 percent to 72,864 yen on a sharp fall in spending on beef due to the mad cow disease scare.

Spending on beef plunged 57.4 percent, while spending on chicken was up 19.3 percent and pork was 13.9 percent higher.

Expenditures on culture and entertainment slid 0.3 percent to 29,442 yen, as a 30.5 percent drop in spending on overseas package tours offset increased spending on personal computers and TV sets.

Spending fell 8.2 percent on clothes and footwear, 1.2 percent on medicine and 2.2 percent on utility expenses.

The average income of salaried workers' households in October rose 0.6 percent in real terms to 485,657 yen, the second straight monthly rise, while disposable income was up a real 0.3 percent to 406,963 yen.

Household spending is a key gauge of personal consumption, accounting for about 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Wage-earning households comprise about 60 percent of total household spending.