Japan's core consumer prices up 2.2 pct on year in April

TOKYO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.2 percent in April from a year earlier, with the pace of increase slowing for a second straight month due to milder food inflation, government data showed Friday.

The increase in the nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), excluding volatile fresh food, marked the 25th straight month the index has remained above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent infla