Japan Oct price-adjusted wages mark first rise since Dec 2016

[TOKYO] Japanese wages rose 0.2 per cent in October from a year earlier after adjustment for inflation, the labour ministry said on Friday, marking their first rise since December 2016 in a sign a tight job market may finally be leading to higher salaries.

The data will be welcome news for the government, which has been urging companies to spend their massive cash reserves on wage increases to help spur consumer spending.

The Bank of Japan has been asserting that the tightest job market in four decades will push up incomes and eventually help consumer inflation reach its target rate of 2 per cent.

Wage earners' nominal cash earnings rose 0.6 per cent compared with the same month last year, up for a third straight month.

Special payments, which include bonuses, slipped 0.5 perc ent year-on-year in October, the data showed.

Regular pay, which determines base wages, rose 0.7 per cent from a year earlier.

Overtime pay, a barometer of strength in corporate activity, increased 0.2 per cent. REUTERS