Consumer prices in Japan rose 2.2 percent in March from a year earlier amid a slight recovery in oil prices, the government said Friday. The inflation rate rose from 2 percent in February, dpa quoted the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as saying. The core consumer price index, which excludes fresh food, stood at 103.0 in March against a base of 100 for 2010, the ministry said. The ministry also reported on Friday that Japan's household spending in March plunged an inflation-adjusted 10.6 percent from a year earlier to 317,579 yen, in reaction to a surge in demand before the tax hike in April 2014.
