By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese November data released Friday painted a mostly dim picture of the economy, with unemployment gaining slightly and deflation rising, albeit in line with expectations.
Japan's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.2% last month, from 5.1% in October, according to the Internal Affairs Ministry's Statistics Bureau.
The result, which matched separate forecasts from analyst surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Kyodo News, was still below the peak of 5.8% recorded in July.
November's core consumer price index -- which excludes volatile fresh-food prices -- dropped 1.7% from a year earlier, also in line with forecasts but marking the ninth straight fall.
Month on month, the core CPI was down 0.2%. Stripping out all food and energy prices, the CPI was down 1% from a year earlier and down 0.1% from October.
Deflation has been a major concern for Japan, and prompted the central bank earlier this month to announce emergency measures to help support prices.
The Statistics Bureau also said Friday that average spending for households of two or more -- a key economic metric -- rose 2.2% in November from a year earlier. The gain, however, was driven by the fall in prices, as household spending was flat in nominal terms.
