the thai navy is also considering buying a chinese submarine. >>> japanese official released a handful of economic indicators this morning. we're joined now from the business desk. give us a break down of the numbers. >> as you know at the end of every month we get a look at people's spending habits, the cost of goods, the jobs situation and these numbers give us a better picture of the economy during the previous month. let's start today with people's spending habits. japanese shoppers were being frugal watching their wallets in october. officials say spending by households spell by 2.4% from a year ago. october marks the second straight month of decline. households with two or more members spent an average of 282,000 yen. that's around $2,300. the ministry say the consumer price index last month was off 0.1% from the same month last year. down for the third month in a row s when prices of energy and all kinds of food were excluded, the gauge was up 0.7% year on year. the figure had been on the rise for 25 consecutive months. the index doesn't factor in fresh food because those prices