Core consumer prices in Japan dipped 0.2 percent on year in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That missed forecasts for a flat reading following the 0.1 percent contraction in May.
Overall CPI also came in at -0.2 percent, similarly missing forecasts for a flat reading after collecting 0.2 percent in the previous month.
Among the individual components, prices for furniture were down 3.4 percent on year, followed by recreation (-1.5 percent), medical care (-1.2 percent) and transportation (-0.3 percent). Fuel costs were up an annual 3.5 percent, while education costs were up 0.4 percent and food prices added 0.1 percent.
On a monthly basis, core CPI was down 0.3 percent, while overall inflation dipped 0.5 percent.
Individually, recreation was down 0.8 percent on month, followed by food (-0.7 percent), furniture (-0.5 percent) and clothing (-0.1 percent). Costs for housing and education were flat on month.
Core CPI in Tokyo - considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend, dropped 0.6 percent on year in July - unchanged and in line with forecasts. Nationwide CPI plunged 0.8 percent on year in Tokyo, missing forecasts for a contraction of 0.6 percent, which also would have been unchanged.
Among the individual components, furniture prices plummeted 5.4 percent on year, followed by recreation costs (-2.6 percent), food (-1.4 percent), transportation (-0.9 percent) and housing (-0.8 percent). Prices for fuel jumped 4.9 percent on year, while clothing prices climbed 1.4 percent.
On a monthly basis, core CPI in Tokyo eased 0.1 percent and overall inflation was down 0.2 percent.
Individually, clothing prices dropped 2.3 percent on month, while food prices fell 0.6 percent and furniture prices fell 0.5 percent. Fuel costs were up 0.8 percent and transportation was up 0.3 percent.
Also on Friday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that retail sales in Japan were up 0.2 percent on year in June, coming in at 11.163 trillion yen. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 1.1 percent following the 3.6 percent surge in May.
On a seasonally adjusted, monthly basis, retail sales dropped 1.2 percent - also missing expectations for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 0.7 percent gain in the previous month.
Sales from large retailers dropped an annual 2.6 percent to 1.568 trillion yen.
Commercial sales fell 2.8 percent to 41.326 trillion yen, the data showed, while wholesale sales dropped 3.8 percent to 30.163 trillion yen.
For the second quarter of 2012, retail sales were up 3.1 percent on year to 33.963 trillion yen. Sales from large retailers fell an annual 1.3 percent to 4.710 trillion yen.
Upon the release of the data, the Japanese yen showed little changes against major currencies, trading near 78.31 against the U.S. dollar, 122.85 versus the British pound, 96.15 against the euro and 80.08 versus the Swiss franc.
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