Japan's consumer prices rise 1st time in 5 years in 2013

Consumer prices increased 0.4 percent in Japan in the year of 2013 from a year earlier, marking the first rise in five years, said the Japanese internal affairs ministry Friday. The ministry said that the core consumer price index, excluding fresh foods, stood at 100.1 against the 2010 base of 100, adding the core index rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier in December alone for the seventh straight month of rising. Energy-related prices' jump raised the overall consumer prices in last year, with electricity prices up 7.1 percent and gasoline prices growing 5.9 percent. The nationwide prices increase was partially a result of Japan' s aggressive monetary easing policy by the Bank of Japan in a move to achieve an inflation target of around 2 percent in two years to beat the country's prolonged deflation, according to Japan's Kyodo News. The price index for 23 wards in Tokyo increased 0.7 percent in January to 99.0, the ministry said. Meanwhile, separate data showed that the country's average monthly household spending, a key indicator of private consumption, rose an inflation-adjusted 0.7 percent in December from a year earlier to 334,433 yen (3,254 U.S. dollars) for the fourth straight monthly increase. The rise was due partly to demand growth for automobiles and other products ahead of a sales tax hike in April. The income of salaried households declined 1.7 percent in real terms to an average of 905,822 yen (8,816 U.S. dollars), falling for the third month in a row.