Japan Consumer Prices Fall for First Time Since June: Economy

Japan’s consumer prices fell for the first time since June, casting doubt on central bank forecasts for the world’s third-biggest economy to emerge from more than a decade of deflation.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food slid 0.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Tokyo today. Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. say declines may persist for two years even as the Bank of Japan forecasts gains of 0.1 percent for the year starting April and