Japan Core Consumer Prices Down 0.5 Pct in June

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Japan's core consumer price index in June fell 0.5 pct from a year earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. The result compared with the median forecast of a 0.4 pct decrease among 21 economic research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press. The core CPI, which excludes often volatile fresh food prices, stood at 103.0 against 100 for the base year of 2010. Month on month, the index was down 0.1 pct. For Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards, the core CPI for July stood at 101.4, down 0.4 pct from a year before.Copyright JIJI PRESS LTD.