Japan's core consumer prices turned positive and rose 0.4 percent in June from a year earlier, marking the fastest pace of increase in nearly five years, data showed on Friday, suggesting the government's efforts to eradicate years of deflation are bearing fruit. The rise in the core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes volatile prices of fresh food, compared with economists' median forecast for a 0.3 percent increase, the data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed. It followed a flat reading in May. The so-called core-core inflation index, which excludes food and ... (full story)