TOKYO, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — Japan’s key consumer price index ( CPI) dropped 1.7 percent in November from a year earlier, marking a ninth consecutive month of decline while household spending rose 2.2 percent in the month, according to government report on Friday.

The core nationwide CPI stood at 99.9 against the base of 100 for 2005, a slump of 1.7 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report.

Last week Japan’s central bank said it was a “critical challenge” for the world’s number two economy to overcome deflation, a threat to the recovery.

The report meanwhile said that the average monthly spending of Japanese households rose 2.2 percent in November from a year earlier to 284,740 yen (3,129 dollars), however, the average monthly income of salaried households was down 0.3 percent to 428, 219 yen.

Household spending figures are a key indicator of private consumption and provide an important economic gauge as household spending accounts for almost 60 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product.