Japan’s consumer inflation ticked up in November, while the jobless rate hit a fresh 24-year low, and the households spent more than expected.
The increase in prices was due mostly to a boost from rising fuel costs that is seen fading in 2018, keeping the Bank of Japan (BoJ) under pressure to maintain its huge monetary support even as other central banks seek an end to crisis-mode policies, reports Reuters.
Minutes of the BOJ’s October rate review showed that while most central bank policymakers saw no need to ramp up stimulus, they agreed on the need to sustain “powerful” easing for the time being.
The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 per cent in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, marking the 11th straight month of gains.
The pace of price growth was just ahead of October’s 0.8 per cent and a median market forecast of the same rate.
A Reuters poll published earlier this month found two-thirds of Japanese firms think the government’s push to raise wages by 3.0 per cent is a tall order, with some dismissing it out of hand.
Separate data released on Tuesday showed the unemployment rate hit a fresh 24-year low of 2.7 per cent in November and job availability rose to a nearly 44-year high.
Household spending rose 1.7 per cent in November, far exceeding forecasts for a 0.5 per cent increase.