Japan consumer prices fall 0.3 percent as BOJ goal stays elusive
News On Japan via Bloomberg -- Sep 28
Japan's consumer prices fell 0.3 percent in August from a year earlier, matching the steepest decline in 16 months as the central bank remains distant from a 1 percent inflation target.
The decline in prices excluding fresh food, reported by the statistics bureau in Tokyo today, was the same as the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 26 economists. Japan's jobless rate decreased to 4.2 percent last month from 4.3 percent in July, according to a separate report.
Entrenched deflation may increase pressure on the central bank to ease further after unexpectedly expanding its asset- purchase fund last week. The decline reported today compares with a Bank of Japan (8301) forecast for a 0.2 percent increase in prices in the fiscal year that started in April and a 0.7 percent gain in the following 12 months.
Source: Bloomberg
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