Japan July Core CPI Up 1.8% Year-on-Year, Accelerating from 1.6%

Japan's core consumer price index rose 1.8% in July from a year earlier, accelerating from a 1.6% increase in the previous month. The core CPI, which excludes fresh food prices, is a key measure of underlying inflation. The July reading widened the annual pace of increase by 0.2 percentage points from June, reflecting a modest pickup in price growth in the Japanese economy.