TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s real wages, adjusted for inflation, rose in June for the first time in 27 months, while nominal wages also rose at the fastest pace in 27 years, driven by higher bonuses as more companies raised wages.
The Bank of Japan last week raised interest rates to levels not seen in 15 years and laid out a detailed plan to slow its massive bond purchases. Broader wage increases and rising services prices were behind such moves.
Figures from the Labor Department showed real wages rose 1.1% in June, the first increase in 27 months, after a revised 1.3% decline in May.
Nominal wages, average total cash earnings per worker, rose 4.5%, the fastest pace since January 1997, to 498,884 yen ($3,480), compared with a revised 2.0% increase in May.
Special payments rose 7.6% in June, after a revised 0.1% increase the previous month, as companies raised wages amid labor shortages.
The basic wage, or regular salary, rose 2.3% year-on-year in June, the fastest increase since October 1994.
Japanese companies have agreed to raise monthly salaries by an average of 5.10 percent this year, the biggest increase in 33 years.
“We need to keep an eye on whether real wages continue to rise,” a ministry official said.
Employees’ fixed wages rose 2.7% in the month, a record pace.
The consumer price index that government officials use to calculate real wages includes the price of fresh food but excludes the rent paid by owners. The index rose 3.3% in June, the same rate as in May.
The data showed that overtime, a gauge of business strength, rose 1.3% in the year to June, continuing the revised 0.9% increase in May.
($1 = 143.3800 yen)
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
