Unemployment up, household spending falls in Japan

Japan's government says the unemployment rate climbed to 4.5 percent in October.

The reading marks the first rise in three months and underscores that the country's post-disaster rebound is waning. Recent data show slowdowns in exports and industrial production in the face of a strong yen and a sputtering global economy.

The government said in a separate report Tuesday that household spending in October fell 0.4 percent from a year earlier. Average household incomes also declined 2.8 percent in real terms.