parliamentary secretary takeshi wada of the cabinet office said a last-minute rise in demand for autosefore the end of a subsidy pushed consumer spending up, but he warned that the economy's condition remains severe. >>> in japan business sentiment among workers in the service sector rose in november for the first time in four months. the cabinet office asked over 2,000 workers, including those in the retail sector how they assess the current economy compared with three months earlier. the survey shows the economic sentiment index was 43.6. that's up 3.4 points from the previous month. the rise is largely due to higher demand for home electric appliances that soared before the government's incentives were changed in december. bonus eco points awarded to buyers were cut by nearly half. strong sales of winter clothing also pushed up the index. the economic outlook index rose to 41.4, up 0.3 points from the previous month. this marks the first rise in two months. the pause in the yen's advance was another factor behind the increase. the cabinet office says the eco point reduction may damp