Japan spending gets Leap Year boost, but broader outlook dim

Spending by Japanese families increased in February for the first time in six months, government data showed Tuesday, but analysts said the rare good news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to be short-lived. Abe came to power in December 2012 vowing to rejuvenate the world's third-largest economy by ending deflation -- a debilitating decline in consumer prices that has suppressed spending for years. Japanese household spending rose 1.2 percent in February from the same month last year, the