Japan Jan. goods trade deficit largest in 8 yrs on energy cost surge

Japan posted its largest goods trade deficit in eight years in January, as imports continued to swell on the back of higher energy costs and a weaker yen, government data showed Thursday.The country had a deficit of 2.19 trillion yen ($19 billion), the sixth straight month of red ink and the biggest since January 2014 when a 2.80 trillion yen deficit was marked, according to a preliminary report by the Finance Ministry.The value of overall imports rose 39.6 percent from a year earlier to 8.52 trillion yen, up for the 12th consecutive month and hitting a record high for the third month in a …READ FULL ARTICLE