The surplus narrowed 0.2percentto to 1.12 trillion yen $10.5 billionn).
It found between 2004 and 2012 the gap in costs between the two narrowed 11.8%.
The surplus narrowed 5.9percentt from a year earlier, to 807.9 billion yen ($6.9 billion), the Ministry of Finance said.
[A14.] Trade Deficit Narrowed 11% in May The trade deficit narrowed 11percentt in May, to a 16-month low of $28.3 billion, as imports of consumer goods and business equipment sank, to $116.1 billion, the Commerce Department reported.
[C3.] Quarterly Loss Narrowed at Revlon Revlon said that its first-quarter loss narrowed 20percentt on lower interest expenses and lower debt retirement costs.
The company, based in Kobe, Japan, said its first-half net loss narrowed 2.6percentt, helped by more profit from its aerospace and shipbuilding units.
Its operating losses narrowed 10.8percenttoto £124 million ($179 million), it said, but lost money overall in 2000; it posted a profit in 1999.
The European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Company's second-half loss narrowed 48percentt last year as it cut costs and its subsidiary Airbus SAS delivered more planes.
The trade deficit narrowed 11.4percentt in May, to a 16-month low of $28.3 billion, as imports of consumer goods and business equipment sank, the Commerce Department reported today.
[C3.] Trade Deficit Narrowed in November The United States trade deficit narrowed 1.7percentto to $33 billion, in November as imports of oil, autos and computers fell, the Commerce Department reported.
