Consumer prices continued to rise in Japan in May.
But the pace of increase slowed as some people saw lower electricity and gas bills.

The internal affairs ministry says the consumer price index, excluding fresh food, rose 3.2 percent last month from a year earlier.
The figure was down slightly from the previous month.
It's the first time that has happened in three months.

This came after electricity rates dropped due to government subsidies and overall energy costs stabilized.
The decline in electricity prices was 17.1 percent.

Meanwhile, most food prices rose. The figure, excluding fresh items, increased by 9.2 percent from a year earlier.
That's the biggest jump in about 47 years.
Cooked items gained by 9.4 percent and the cost of dining out was up 6.4 percent.

Egg prices soared by 35.6 percent and chocolate was up 14.4 percent.