TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese household spending fell 4.0 per cent in October from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, in a sign that consumer spending remains weak.

The fall compared with economists' median estimate of a 5.1 per cent decline in a Reuters poll and followed a 5.6 per cent fall in the year to September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications data showed on Friday.

Spending grew 0.9 per cent in October from the previous month, versus the median estimate of an unchanged reading and following a 1.5 per cent increase in September.