Japan Aug current account surplus +4.2 pct yr/yr

TOKYO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Japan's current account surplus unexpectedly rose 4.2 percent in
August from a year earlier, Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday, although the outlook
remains murky as a slowdown in the Chinese economy and Europe's debt crisis are hurting the
nation's exports.
The surplus stood at 454.7 billion yen ($5.82 billion), against a median forecast for 425.5
billion yen. The current account has been in a surplus for seven straight months.
Following are details of the current account balance; economists' median forecast is in
parentheses:

AUG JULY AUG YR BEFORE
----------------------------------------------------------------
Current account
balance +454.7 (+425.5) +625.4 +436.3
Trade balance -644.5 -373.6 -690.3
Income balance +1,389.0 +1,422.1 +1,353.5
----------------------------------------------------------------($1 = 78.1600 Japanese yen)