TOKYO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose 4.2 percent in January from a year earlier, increasing at a pace not seen since September 1981, owing to rising energy and food prices, the government said in a report on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the latest rise in core consumer prices follows a 4.0-percent jump in December last year, with the latest reading marking the 10th straight month the index has remained above the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) 2-percent inflation target.
In the recording period, energy prices continued an upward trajectory, climbing 14.6 percent, with electricity jumping 20.2 percent, while city gas leapt 35.2 percent.
Food prices rose 7.4 percent in January as companies continued to pass on the higher prices they are incurring to the consumers and in doing so negatively impacting household spending.
Analysts said inflation in Japan has continued to grow owing to the yen's weakness in twine with the BOJ's ultra-easy monetary policy, which stands in contrast to other major global central banks who have been tightening policy to combat inflation.
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