Consumer prices rose fractionally in May, as Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda tries to generate inflation with unprecedented monetary stimulus.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food increased 0.1 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Friday, versus forecasts by economists for inflation to be unchanged. Unemployment remained at 3.3 percent while household spending eked out a gain for the first time in more than a year.
Growth that is forecast to slow this quarter risks damping inflation that Kuroda predicts will pick up later in the year as the effects of the plunge in oil prices fade. Only 2 of 32 economists see the BOJ reaching its 2 percent target by September next year, with a majority forecasting an eventual increase in stimulus.