Average household spending in September scored a real 1.0 percent rise from a year earlier to 288,978, yen the first year-on-year increase in six months, the government said Friday.

Spending expanded by 18.8 percent on housing, by 17.1 percent on furniture and housekeeping goods, by 10.1 percent on medical services, and by 6.1 percent on transportation and communications as well as entertainment, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in a preliminary report.

But expenditures declined by 9.8 percent on education and by 6.5 percent on clothing and footwear.