Japan's core consumer prices up 2.7 pct in July

TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in July from a year earlier, with the size of increase expanding for the third straight month on higher energy costs following the end of government subsidies, government data showed Friday.

The increase in the nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 2.6 percent rise in June, according to the Mi