Japan inflation slows to 3.2% in May

Seems the Boj was correct that the high inflation that started after the Ukraine invasion was temporary. Now it's 3.2 percent. Crude prices are also coming down, so expect the effects of that to eventually filter through to the general economy.

We're not too far off 2 percent. So best to keep policy loose, although the cheaper yen is a drag for us yen-earning residents.

Once prices are hiked due to inflation it will never go back pre inflation. To think it will is wishful thinking

Food is still a major expense though

Still, rents are not so out of control as in other countries

Those earning yen must be feeling the pinch eh?

I’m not buying that number.

shopping at the store or even online tells a much different story and supports a much larger number.

@blacklabel

inflation and price gouging are two different things.

One is tied to the economy the other to the greed of corporations

Wait till the yen goes back to 120 or so and prices will start falling.

Not true.

Everything just keeps going way, way up. Chocolate up 14%, eggs still going up, restaurants all increasing prices again, 1000s of food products to follow. Electricity, gas, in fact everything, even Disneyland theme parks now headed to over 10,000 for a day pass.

They might as well say inflation is at 0. Most would believe it, like they believe everything else they are told.

But that's the way this all works isn't it.

Crude prices are also coming down, so expect the effects of that to eventually filter through to the general economy.

Oil prices dropping is more likely a sign that we are entering a global recession. Oil still priced in dollars too, and yen not doing great on that front lately.

Even if food ks excluddd, If inflation was 3.2%, no one would notice it.

With yen falling against the dollar, I doubt that inflation is always so weak.

And electricity ?

And services ?

JeffLeeToday  06:20 pm JST

Seems the Boj was correct that the high inflation that started after the Ukraine invasion was temporary. Now it's 3.2 percent. Crude prices are also coming down, so expect the effects of that to eventually filter through to the general economy.

We're not too far off 2 percent. So best to keep policy loose, although the cheaper yen is a drag for us yen-earning residents.

Not to sure that what BOJ does is a great success:

“Japan's average monthly wage dropped 3.0% in inflation-adjusted real terms in April from a year earlier, marking the 13th straight month of decline, labor ministry data shows”.

if companies do not increase wages anyway let’s go back to the 0% inflation!

if companies do not increase wages anyway let’s go back to the 0% inflation!

Love me some o that

I guess, the decimal point is a typo. 32% fits better, although still a very generous guess at the lower limit of what’s really going on in supermarkets, restaurants and elsewhere.

The inflation rate in Russia in May was 2.5%. Long past time, for governments around the world to duck responsibility by blaming the war in Ukraine for self-inflicted inflation.

Wait till the yen goes back to 120 or so and prices will start falling.

Might be waiting for a long time… the other developed nations are all tightening monetary policy, while the Japanese central bank continues to print more and more money.

I don’t imagine we see 120 to the dollar this year… and I believe the authorities would need to announce major policy changes for that to come about on Japan’s initiative.

If the US screws up it’s possible, but… Japan’s central bank keeps printing more and more yen… keeps bankrolling government spending… i pray for a strong yen, but I do not bet on it.

scratching my head? Why 2% is just right? 2.5% or 3.5% or 4% is not acceptable?

so if it was 19.1% somewhere last year and 12 months later was 2.5% wouldn’t that be a huge improvement?

and much better than the drop from 9% to 4.5% that someone else is claiming as historical level success?

i don’t feel price gouging I feel the ingredients and components all cost more due to inflation. so that’s passed on to us, well in excess of 3.2% for both.

@rakuraku

Not to sure that what BOJ does is a great success...Japan's average monthly wage dropped 

The BOJ doesnt do wages. Private sector employers do wages. So blame them, especially as they're earning their highest profits on record. Boj tools mostly cover interest rates and inflation. In that regard, Japan has done waaaay better than its peers.

Oil prices dropping is more likely a sign that we are entering a global recession.

Which would put downward pressure on prices, prompting the Fed to lower rates, thereby raising the value of the yen. Isn't that what we want?

it will never go back pre inflation. 

You don't think that the country that had deflation for decades until very recently (due to external events) is capable of low inflation? Well, OK.