Japan Jan real wages rise 0.4% y-o-y, first rise in 3 months

[TOKYO] Japanese wages rose in January from a year earlier on an inflation-adjusted basis for the first time in three months, data showed on Friday, a positive sign that consumer spending may pick up.

Wage rises are crucial to the government's efforts to stoke demand and defeat deflation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly urged companies to lift worker compensation, particularly base pay, so that households can increase spending.

Real wages, adjusted for inflation, in January rose 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, the first rise in three months, data from the labour ministry showed.

Nominal cash earnings in January rose 0.4 per cent from a year earlier, also the first gain in three months. Regular pay, which determines base salaries, rose an annual 0.1 per cent, the data showed.

Special payments, which include workers' bonuses, rose 7.1 per cent in January from a year earlier. Overtime pay fell an annual 1.3 per cent, the data showed.

REUTERS