Japan continues escape from deflation.

Japanese November core inflation rose to a five-year high in November, increasing to 1.2% from 0.9% in October and topping consensus of 1.1%. "Core core" CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy prices, accelerated to +0.6% last month from +0.3% in October, with the November gain the biggest in 15 years. Crucially for Japan's fight against deflation, total cash wages rose for the first time in five months with an increase of 0.5% In addition to encouraging CPI figures, other data appears to show that Japan's economy is in decent shape. Industrial production rose 5% on year in November, although that was down from 5.4% a month earlier. Retail sales climbed 4% vs 2.3% and unemployment held steady at 4%, but overall household spending rose just 0.2% vs +0.9% in October and consensus of +1.7%.