Inflation slows in Japan

Japan’s inflation rate slowed for the first time in 14 months, with consumer prices excluding fresh food rising 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier. Japan’s inflation slowed for the first time in more than a year, buoyed by government energy subsidies and a strong trend ahead of the Bank of Japan’s first leadership change in a decade. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier, the interior ministry reported Friday, slowing more than a percentage point from the previous month due to cheaper energy costs. “Government measures are limiting energy, but I expect food prices to continue rising for some time,” said Yuichi Kodama, an economist at the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.