IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Japan services cheaper

Japan's corporate service prices fell for a fourth month as commodity costs tumbled and the deepening recession forced companies to cut spending.

The prices businesses pay for services such as transportation and rent declined 2.2 percent in January from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said yesterday in Tokyo. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed was for a 2.5 percent drop. Prices decreased 0.9 percent from the previous month.