Japan February CPI headline 3.3% y/y (expected 4.1%), Core 3.1% y/y (expected 3.1%)

Japan February inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term figures.

Consumer Price Index, headline rate 3.3% y/y

• expected 4.1%, prior 4.3%

CPI ex-Fresh Food 3.1% y/y (this is the 'core' rate)

• expected 3.1%, prior 4.2%

CPI ex Food, Energy 3.5% y/y (this is 'core-core' rate, the closest to the US measure of core CPI Core CPI Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation that excludes certain volatile items, and that's almost always food and energy prices. The idea behind using core CPI is that these items can have large fluctuations in prices due to factors such as weather, natural disasters and geopolitical tensions, which do not necessarily reflect underlying inflationary trends. By excluding these items, the core CPI provides a more stable and reliable measure of underlying inflation.The specific item Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation that excludes certain volatile items, and that's almost always food and energy prices. The idea behind using core CPI is that these items can have large fluctuations in prices due to factors such as weather, natural disasters and geopolitical tensions, which do not necessarily reflect underlying inflationary trends. By excluding these items, the core CPI provides a more stable and reliable measure of underlying inflation.The specific item Read this Term)

• expected 3.4%, prior 3.2%
• 3.5% is the highest since January 1982

The headline rate dropped from January, in line with a similar result from the Tokyo area February CPI three weeks ago. Core and core-core rates, showing underlying inflationary pressures, are far more sticky though. The Bank of Japan expects inflation to be transitory and to decline from around September/October so its too early to draw any hard conclusions about the implications of this data for BOJ monetary policy.

Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda finishes up at the Bank on April 8. He'll be replaced by Kazuo Ueda, on the right in the pic below: