Japan's October consumer prices rise 3.6%, quickest in 4 decades

Japan's core consumer prices surged 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier, the fastest pace in about four decades, government data showed Friday, providing fresh evidence of broadening price hikes that are hitting household spending and testing the Bank of Japan's resolve to maintain its ultralow rate policy.The BOJ views recent inflation, prompted by higher energy and raw material costs and exacerbated by the weakening of the yen, will be short-lived. But the nationwide core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food items, remained above the central bank's 2 percent target f…READ FULL ARTICLE