Japan's core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, rose by an annual 0.8% in October before seasonal adjustment, following a 0.7% year-over-year increase in September, preliminary data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
Excluding fresh food and energy items, prices were up 0.2% in October from the same month in 2016.
The Bank of Japan aims to raise inflation to 2% by the fiscal year ending March 2020 after having pushed back the target date a number of times before.
Meanwhile, data on household spending for October showed the average monthly consumption expenditure per household was unchanged in real terms from the previous year. The average monthly income per household rose 2.9% in real terms in October from the previous year.
On the employment front, Japan's seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 2.8% in October, unchanged from September, the ministry said in a separate release.
