Japan prices tumble at record rate in August

TOKYO (AP) -- Prices in Japan tumbled at a record pace in August amid growing worries about jobs and wages, the government said Monday.

The country's key consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier. The figure marks the steepest decline since officials began compiling comparable data in 1971.

The result matched the average market forecast in a Kyodo news agency survey.

Core CPI has now dropped for six straight months, indicating that deflation is strengthening its grip on the world's second largest economy.

The core CPI for Tokyo retreated 2.1 percent in September. The result suggests that prices nationwide are headed further south. Prices in the nation's capital are considered a leading barometer of price trends across Japan.

Lower prices may seem like a good thing, but deflation can hamper growth by depressing company profits and causing consumers to postpone purchases, leading to production and wage cuts. It can also increase debt burdens.

Japan underwent a destabilizing bout of deflation during the 1990s, and again earlier this decade.

The country emerged from a yearlong recession in the April-June quarter, but the economy remains fragile as unemployment climbs.



＜消費者物価＞８月２．４％下落　過去最大の下落率更新
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　総務省が２９日発表した８月の全国消費者物価指数（０５年＝１００、生鮮食品を除く総合）は、前年同月比２．４％下落の１００．１で、６カ月連続で下落した。下落率は、初めて２％を超えた前月をさらに上回り、４カ月連続で過去最大を更新した。前年に高騰していた原油や食料品の価格が落ち着いたことや、消費低迷の影響でスーパーなどで商品の値下げ競争が進んだことが原因とみられる。