Japan says its inflation rate eased slightly in November as household spending dropped, hindering the government’s effort to get the world’s third-largest economy out of recession and back to sustainable growth.
Overall incomes fell 1.1 percent in November from a year earlier while household spending was down 2.5 percent. Unemployment was flat at 3.5 percent.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to release soon a 3.5 trillion yen ($30 billion) proposed stimulus plan that reportedly will focus on providing more support to lower income families and to Japan’s regions, where growth has stagnated. The economy slipped into recession after a sales tax hike in April sapped consumer demand.
Japan’s central bank is buying up to 80 trillion yen ($660 billion) in assets each month, mostly government bonds, to help spur inflation but so far has not attained its target of 2 percent price increases overall.
– AP/UNB