Bankruptcies across Japan totaled 950 in October, slightly below the same month a year earlier but still at a high level, as inflation and labor shortages push small businesses under.
A research firm said rising prices and a shortage of workers are driving the bankruptcy count higher. If failures keep increasing at this pace, the full-year total will exceed last year's, the firm said.
The October figure comes as household spending weakens. Real consumption spending fell 6.8% in September from a year earlier, the tenth straight monthly decline, according to the internal affairs ministry's family budget survey.
The broader economy showed a mixed picture. The index of coincident economic indicators rose 0.7 points in September from the previous month, its first rise in two months.
Japan's current account surplus for the first half of the fiscal year was the second largest on record, the finance ministry said.