XINHUA – Japanese workers’ real wages in July climbed 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, rising for the second consecutive month, boosted by summertime bonus payments, government data showed yesterday.
Nominal wages, the average monthly cash earnings per worker including base pay, overtime and bonuses, grew 3.6 per cent to JPY403,490 (about USD2,800), marking 31 straight months of increase, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare reported.
Special payments, largely reflecting bonuses, rose 6.2 per cent to 118,807 in July, while overtime and other allowances edged down 0.1 per cent at JPY19,590, according to the data. The real, inflation-adjusted wages rose at a slower pace than June’s 1.1 per cent growth when it turned positive for the first time in 27 months amid rising consumer prices, the ministry said.
The Labor Ministry attributed the continued rise in real wages to more companies paying bonuses compared with a year earlier. But the slowdown in real wage growth was primarily due to more companies paying bonuses in June than July, a ministry official said.
The official noted that real wage growth could start to decline again in August or later, outpaced by inflation, since most firms pay summer bonuses in June and July.
