Japan's core consumer prices fell for an eighth straight month in September as deflation proves hard to beat for Asia's largest economy, while industrial output slipped.
Japan's economy, the second largest in the world, is gradually recovering from a slump stretching back over a decade, but there are concerns about the impact of slowing exports to the US and sluggish consumer spending.
Japan's core consumer prices fell 0.1% in September from a year earlier, the government said, in line with market expectations. Excluding energy, core consumer prices dropped by an even bigger 0.3%, while overall consumer prices were down 0.2% from a year ago, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The core consumer price index for Tokyo alone in October - seen as a leading indicator for national price trends - was flat from a year earlier.
Lingering concerns over deflation have created a headache for Japan's central bank, which last year raised interest rates for the first time in almost six years, followed by another quarter-point hike in February.
With global financial markets still shaky after the rout sparked in August by the US housing market woes, some analysts believe the central bank will hold off from raising interest rates again this year.
But others argue that another rate hike is still possible by the year end if financial markets stabilise, noting that the Bank of Japan is wary about keeping rates very low for too long.
