TOKYO, July 23 - Japanese consumers grew slightly more confident in June compared with three months earlier, with the sentiment index rising for the first time in three quarters, a government survey showed on Monday.
The June consumer confidence index rose to 40.9, up 0.7 point from the previous survey in March, the Cabinet Office said.
The index measuring increases in income rose to 40.8 from 40.3 in March, while that for employment fell to 30.5 from 30.8 in the previous survey.
The survey was conducted among 5,040 households to gauge consumer sentiment through several indicators -- living standards, increases in income and prices, employment conditions and plans to purchase durable goods.
Consumer sentiment among one-person households worsened to 44.3 in June, down 0.3 point from a year earlier, the government said in a separate survey.