Japanese Consumer Confidence Drops Again In July

Japanese consumers became the most pessimistic they've been in at least 26 years, indicating their spending is unlikely to trigger a recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The sentiment index dropped to 31.4 last month from 32.6 in June, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, the lowest since the government began compiling the figures in 1982. The government last week said Japan may be in a recession as rising prices damp profit growth, prompting some companies to cut wages and hiring. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is scheduled to announce an economic stimulus package this month to ease the impact of higher oil and food prices on an economy that shrank last quarter.