Japan consumer prices edge up

Japan's consumer prices edged up 1.0 percent in February, government data showed Friday, but inflation was still far below a longstanding target. Japan has notched up eight straight quarters of economic growth - the longest positive run since the "bubble" boom days of the late 1980s. But it has struggled to achieve the 2.0 percent inflation rate thought crucial to boosting the world's third-largest economy.
Government data released Friday showed the core inflation rate, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, stood at 1.0 percent in February, up from 0.9 percent in the previous three months.