TOKYO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's inflation rate increased in August owing to a rise in energy prices but still remained far below the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) 2 percent inflation target, a government report showed Friday.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food prices because of their volatility, gained 0.7 percent on year in the recording period.
The latest increase comes on the heels of a 0.5 percent rise in July, the statistics bureau said, marking the eight successive monthly rise for the index.
The consumer price index measures a price change for a constant market basket of goods and services from one period to the next within the same area.
The percent change in the CPI is a widely used gauge by the government here and the central bank to estimate inflation in any given period.
