By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) - Japanese retail sales rose in April in their first monthly increase since the collapse of Lehman Brothers sent the world economy into a spiral last September, as department stores held sales to drag in more customers.
Analysts say consumption will get support in coming months from government stimulus but the effect will be short lived as companies facing weak sales cut jobs and wages, spreading Japan's worst recession since World War Two into the household sector.
"The April figures aren't strong enough to say consumption is clearly turning up," said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
"Consumption may pick up in May and June as the effect of the stimulus package appears. After that, households won't spend much as summer bonus payments are seen falling sharply."
Seasonally adjusted April sales rose 0.6 percent, their first monthly rise since last August, leaving April sales a smaller-than-expected 2.9 percent down from a year ago.
Department stores and supermarkets held more sales to attract customers armed with the first payouts from a government stimulus plan to give 2 trillion yen ($21 billion) in cash to households, said an official from the ministry of economy, trade and industry.
Automobile sales continued to fall in April from a year earlier but demand for low-emission cars picked up, helped by tax incentives included in the government's 27 trillion yen in stimulus spending, or almost 5 percent of GDP.
The effect may linger. Nissan Motor Co., Japan's No. 3 automaker, said the tax cuts helped orders for its green vehicles rise 30 percent in May from a year earlier.
But that remains one of very few bright spots for an economy that shrank a record 4.0 percent in the first quarter.
Much of the pain has been in exports, as global demand for Japanese cars, components and other technology collapsed late last year, with the demise of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers freezing markets and worsening an already spreading recession.
While exports and industrial output are showing signs of recovery, the first-quarter GDP figures showed domestic demand and investment is buckling in a sign of growing pain for households in an election year. ($1=95.39 Yen)