TOKYO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core consumer prices increased in October from a year earlier owing to a rise in energy costs, the government said in a report on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, prices rose 1.0 percent in October from a year earlier, with the pace of the increase in the nationwide consumer price index, excluding fresh food prices because of their volatility, coming in unchanged from September's reading.

The ministry's data also showed that prices had risen for the 22nd consecutive month, but still remain well below the Bank of Japan's lofty 2 percent inflation target.