Japan's household spending surged in January to beat estimates, while the unemployment rate fell, according to data released Friday, though consumer prices showed persistant deflation. January spending by households of two or more people rose a price-adjusted 2.4% from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry reported, easily beating expectations for a 0.4% rise from a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists. The jobless rate, meanwhile, eased to 4.2% in January from December's 4.3%, in line with forecasts. On the downside, the core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh-food costs, slipped 0.3% in January, ... (full story)