Japan's economy signals stagnation and weakness

Official data released on Friday also showed consumer inflation stayed unmoved at 3.3% from the month before, the BBC reports. Japan raised its sales tax from 5% to 8% in April so analysts said "real" inflation for July was actually 1.3%. Japan's economy, which is the world's third-largest, suffered from deflation for almost two decades. The central bank's current target for the inflation rate is 2%.