Inflation slowed for a third month in November as oil and commodity costs tumbled and the deepening recession weakened demand.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 1 percent from a year earlier, declining from the 1.9 percent logged in October, the statistics bureau said Friday in Tokyo. The median estimate of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for 1.1 percent.
The cost of purchasing fuel and commodities, which drove inflation to a 10-year high last quarter, are plunging amid a global slowdown. A deepening recession at home is also eroding demand, increasing the risk the world's second-largest economy may slip into deflation next year, analysts say.