Japan's consumer confidence slightly worsens in Dec - govt

FILE PHOTO: A shopper wearing a protective mask pushes a shopping cart at Japan's supermarket group Aeon's shopping mall as the mall reopens amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Chiba, Japan May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's consumer confidence fell slightly in December, the government said on Wednesday, as domestic COVID-19 cases started rising towards the end of the month.

A Cabinet Office survey showed the sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was at 39.1 in December, compared with 39.2 in November.

That marked the index's first fall in four months.

The government kept its assessment of the sentiment index unchanged, saying there were continued signs of improvement.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Writing by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)

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