The average view of the economy among those with jobs sensitive to consumer sentiment worsened in July for the third straight month as household spending took a beating from falling summer bonuses, a government survey showed Thursday.
The diffusion index of the so-called economy watchers' views on the current state of the economy lost 0.5 point from June to 42.4, the Cabinet Office said. The index remained below the key line of 50 for the 24th month in a row.
A reading of 50 indicates that taxi drivers, department store clerks, restaurant owners and others with jobs close to the consumer generally believe the state of the economy is unchanged from three months earlier.