Japanese deflation eases

Deflation is easing in Japan, according to a Bloomberg report today.

Japan’s consumer prices fell at a slower pace in May, supporting the central bank’s view that a pickup in domestic demand is beginning to ease deflation.

Prices excluding fresh food slid 1.2 percent from a year earlier, moderating from a 1.5 percent decline in April, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 1.3 percent drop...

Corporate service prices, which the central bank says correlate closest with changes in the output gap, slid 0.8 percent in May from a year earlier, the smallest decline in 19 months, the BOJ said yesterday.

However, another Bloomberg report yesterday showed that growth in Japanese exports is also slowing.

Japan’s export growth slowed for a third month in May, signaling the pace of the economic recovery is likely to cool.

Shipments abroad advanced 32.1 percent from a year earlier, less than April’s 40.4 percent, the Finance Ministry said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for 36.5 percent. From the previous month, exports fell a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent...

Imports climbed 33.4 percent in May from a year earlier, leaving a trade surplus of 324.2 billion yen ($3.6 billion), the ministry said. The median estimate of economists was for a 480 billion yen excess.

Meanwhile, in the euro area, industrial orders continued to grow in April.

European industrial orders increased for a third month in April, led by demand for intermediate goods such as car engines.

Orders in the 16-nation euro area rose 0.9 percent from March, when they jumped 5.1 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had forecast orders to increase 1.6 percent, the median of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. In the year, April industrial orders rose 22.1 percent after increasing 20.3 percent in March.

In the US, durable goods orders fell in May but the overall picture from Thursday's US economic data were not unduly negative.

Orders for computers and machinery climbed in May, showing gains in global business investment and demand that will give the U.S. economy a lift.

Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years, excluding autos and aircraft, increased 0.9 percent, the third gain in the past four months, according to figures from the Commerce Department issued today in Washington. A report from the Labor Department showed the number of claims for jobless benefits last week hovered near this year’s average...

Total orders for durable goods dropped 1.1 percent in May, the first decrease in six months, as demand for commercial aircraft retreated, the Commerce Department figures showed.