Path toward Achieving the Price Stability Target of 2 Percent I mentioned earlier that consumption has been weak, and I would now like to turn to prices, which have also been weak. However, if the economic recovery continues and employment tightens, prices should rise eventually.
In this context, one often hears the question why prices are not rising even though the unemployment rate has fallen to around 2.5 percent, well below 3.5 percent, which until recently was widely regarded as the structural unemployment rate. My answer to this question is simple: the decline in the unemployment rate is insufficient.