Consumer sentiment rose to a 10-month high in April, adding to signs that Japan's recession may be easing.
The confidence index climbed to 32.4 last month from 28.9 in March, the biggest jump since April 2007, the Cabinet Office said Monday. The index has advanced since tumbling to 26.2 in December, the lowest since the government began compiling the figures in 1982.
Prime Minister Taro Aso's stimulus package and a rebound in stocks since March may be helping lift consumers' gloom. Even so, households are unlikely to lead an economic recovery as companies facing another year of losses could fire workers and cut wages.
"The stimulus plans and rising stocks are probably making consumers less pessimistic," said Noriaki Matsuoka, an economist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. "But we shouldn't be optimistic about consumption as plunging profits and weak demand suggest higher unemployment and lower pay."