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Cabinet Office: Economy Watchers Index Down for Eighth Consecutive Month

December 10, 2007
By Ken Worsley


Each month, the Cabinet Office releases its Economy Watchers Index, a survey measuring sentiment among workers who are particularly sensitive to economic trends. This group includes taxi drivers, hotel staff and restaurant workers. November’s data was released today, and the survey is showing a decline in confidence amongst these workers for the eighth consecutive month.

The actual index score fell by 2.7 points to 38.8 in November. A score below 50 indicates pessimism, while one above 50 indicates optimism regarding current economic conditions. November’s score is the lowest registered since the index hit 38.4 in May 2003.

Although we’re not yet seeing anything resembling the depths of late 2001, when the index slipped into the high 20s, the downward trend looks firmly established and there is worry that higher oil, gasoline and food prices will make things more difficult for this group of workers to feel confident about economic conditions for some time yet.

We know that taxi fares have been raised, ostensibly in an effort to pass on earnings to taxi drivers. Yet, even with the increased rates already having been announced, the index shows a greater degree of pessimism. A few days ago, Bloomberg quoted Tokyo taxi driver Keishi Iijima as saying, “I don’t feel like for shopping when I’m not getting any benefit from the economy. It’s a dream that consumer spending will support the economy when only a few white-collar workers are enjoying the expansion.”

A recent “Pop Vox” section on Japan Today even asked a couple of taxi drivers what they thought of the increased fares, and neither expressed any hope of seeing increased remuneration.

Later this week, we will see the figures for November consumer confidence, which slid to a 32 month low last month. That index is also in danger of slipping into pessimistic territory not seen since 2003.

Filed Under Cabinet Office, Economic Reports, Economy Watchers 

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Comments

One Response to “Cabinet Office: Economy Watchers Index Down for Eighth Consecutive Month”

  1. WG on December 12th, 2007 3:33 am

    Interesting survey - did anyone buy the line about taxi drivers actually getting more money? I would assume they have some sort of union to speak up for them. Did the government make increased salaries a condition of allowing the rate hike?

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