Consumer prices in Japan tumbled at a record pace in August according to fresh government data, raising fears that a prolonged downward spiral of deflation could undermine the country's fragile economic recovery.
Figures released on Tuesday showed Japan's key core consumer price index (CPI) falling 2.4 per cent from a year earlier, as rising unemployment and falling wages kept domestic demand weak.
The data represents the sixth straight month of declines in the index, and the biggest fall since 1971 when officials first began recording comparable data.
The index excludes volatile fresh food prices and also includes fuel and energy costs.
The falls come despite recent signs of an improvement in the Japanese economy, which returned to positive growth in the second quarter of 2009, after its worst recession since the second world war.
Business - Japan prices fall at record rate
Consumer prices in Japan tumbled at a record pace in August according to fresh government data, raising fears that a prolonged downward spiral of deflation could undermine the country's fragile economic recovery.
Figures released on Tuesday showed Japan's key core consumer price index (CPI) falling 2.4 per cent from a year earlier, as rising unemployment and falling wages kept domestic demand weak.
The data represents the sixth straight month of declines in the index, and the biggest fall since 1971 when officials first began recording comparable data.
The index excludes volatile fresh food prices and also includes fuel and energy costs.
The falls come despite recent signs of an improvement in the Japanese economy, which returned to positive growth in the second quarter of 2009, after its worst recession since the second world war.
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