TOKYO: Japan’s household spending jumped 6.9 percent in January from a year earlier despite pandemic restrictions, data showed Friday, in the first rise since July for the world’s third-largest economy.

The data, which beat analyst estimates of a jump around 3.6 percent, was the result of consumers spending more on hotels and other holiday accommodation, as well as travel and trains, the figures from the internal affairs ministry showed.

Tokyo and other major cities imposed quasi-emergency measures in January as the Omicron variant caused a surge in infections, but there were fewer restrictions compared to the same month last year when a more strict state of emergency was imposed.

Household spending is closely watched to gauge if Japan is on target to emerge from decades-old deflation.

The government and central bank have for years struggled to reach a two-percent inflation target seen as key to turbocharging the economy.

But the effects of the pandemic, and more recently the crisis in Ukraine, have helped lift prices, with some firms hiking the cost of consumer items for the first time in decades.