Japan consumption rebounds, but rising food costs complicate BOJ's task

Tokyo

JAPAN'S household spending rose in May for the first time in more than a year, and a robust jobs market fuelled hopes that companies will begin lifting wages needed to spark inflation towards the central bank's ambitious 2 per cent goal.

The rebound offers some relief to the Bank of Japan, which has worried about the slow pick- up in consumption after last year's sales tax hike pinched household budgets.

But a steady rise in food prices, driven mostly by higher import costs from a weak yen, underscores a dilemma the central bank faces as i…