Tokyo inflation seen picking up in Jan on energy costs- Reuters poll By Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) – Consumer inflation in Tokyo likely accelerated in January, underscoring sustained pressure on the cost of living, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

The Japanese capital’s core CPI will come out on Friday after the Bank of Japan cut interest rates for 17 years, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will hold steady around its 2% target.

In Tokyo, the core consumer price index (CPI), the leading indicator of national price trends, likely rose 2.5% in January, following a 2.4% gain in December, the average forecast of 16 economists showed.

“And gas prices have remained high, and gains in gasoline prices have likely driven inflation,” said Talumi Tsunoda, senior economist at the Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.

Japan’s core consumer prices rose 3.0% in December, the fastest annual pace, it showed on Friday.NL3N3OI0T4

The Ministry of the Interior releases Tokyo CPI data at 8:30 a.m. Japan time (2330 GMT on January 30).

Next: (LON:) The week’s data also includes Japan’s Japanese industrial output, which was expected to rise 0.3% in December, down from 2.2% in November.

Manufacturing equipment such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and transportation vehicles are likely to boost factory output, analysts said.

Retail sales in December were forecast to have risen 3.2% from December, helped by products such as air conditioners, which are used for heating in the winter months, according to the survey.

The Commerce Ministry will release both factory output and retail sales at 8:50 a.m. on Jan. 31 (2350 GMT Jan. 30).

December saw the nation’s jobless rate at 2.5%, and the job-to-applicants ratio likely stood at 1.25, both numbers unchanged from November.

The jobs data will be released on January 31 at 8:30 AM.