The cost of living in Tokyo cooled for a second month on the back of some temporary factors even as food inflation stayed hot, keeping pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after voter frustration over high prices led to his historic election setback Sunday.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.9% in the capital in July from a year earlier, versus a 3.1% clip in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday. It was the first time the pace of gains slipped below 3% since March.
The consensus forecast was for price gains to slow to 3%, as economists expected the Tokyo government’s waiver of some water charges for the summer to weigh on the gauge, along with a drop in energy prices after they spiked a year earlier. Costs for water fell 34.6% for a second straight month, renewing the largest drop in data going back to 1971.
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