TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japanese household spending rose 1.5 per cent in April from a year earlier in price -adjusted real terms, government data showed on Friday, in a sign that growth in consumer spending is slowing after rapid gains earlier this year.

The rise was less than the median market forecast for a 3.1 per cent annual increase and followed a 5.2 per cent increase in March.

Spending declined 4.6 per cent from March in seasonally adjusted terms as households spent an average 304,382 yen (S$3,765), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.

Spending by wage earner households rose 1.1 per cent in April from the same month a year earlier.