Consumer prices fell at a near record pace in October, reinforcing the government's concern that deflation will hamper the economy's recovery from its worst postwar recession.
Prices excluding fresh food slid 2.2 percent from a year earlier after dropping 2.3 percent in September, the statistics bureau said Friday in Tokyo. That matched the median estimate of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Eight months of falling prices may intensify political pressure on the Bank of Japan to take action to combat deflation, which the government last week singled out as a threat to the world's second-largest economy. Economic ministers said monetary policy should be used to bolster prices, while BOJ Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said providing more money alone won't stimulate demand.