Tokyo, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese department store andsupermarket sales fell for the second straight month in December,suggesting the long-sought revival in consumer spending won'thappen anytime soon. Sales at large retail stores fell 4.5 percent, seasonally adjusted,after declining a revised 0.4 percent in November, the Ministry ofEconomy, Trade and Industry said. At stores open at least one year,sales fell 5.4 percent from a year earlier, which compares witheconomists' expectations of a 3.7 percent drop. That's bad news for companies such as Ito-Yokado Co., the largestsupermarket operator in Japan, and Takashimaya Co., the biggestdepartment store. December is usually the busiest month of theyear for retailers, as people buy holiday season gifts. As the world's No. 2 economy sputters, more shoppers stayedhome this time around. ``The message is not good,'' said KazuhikoOgata, senior economist at HSBC Securities (Japan) Ltd. ``You cansee confidence is deteriorating as the economic outlook dims withthe fall in stocks.'' The nine-month slide in the benchmark stock index will makeJapanese shoppers even more loathe to open their wallets, Ogatasaid. Consumers have balked at spending more in the past twoyears amid concerns about thinning pay packets and unemployment-- which at 4.8 percent is just shy of the record 4.9 percent postedlast March. The Nikkei 225 stock average has lost about one-third in the pastnine months. The Nikkei fell 0.8 percent to 13,696.06 today. Theyield on the No. 227 10-year government bond fell 2 basis points to1.425 percent, a level not seen for nearly two years.