TOKYO – Japan’s real wages dropped 3.8% in November, marking the biggest fall in more than eight years and declining for the eighth successive month, the government said in a report today.
According to the Labour Ministry, average monthly wages fell 3.8% on an inflation-adjusted basis from a year earlier, with the drop coming as the nation grapples with soaring prices for energy and food, further inflated by a weak yen, reported Xinhua.
The latest decline in average wages, as well as falling for an eighth straight month, is also the sharpest slide since wages here were forced down 4.1% in May 2014, when the consumption tax rate was hiked, the ministry’s data showed.
According to the ministry, the average monthly cash earnings per worker in November edged up 0.5% to 283,895 yen (US$2,115 or RM9,313), rising for an 11th straight month although the pace had slowed.
Despite the negligible gain, the ministry said when factoring in inflation, real wages had actually declined in the recording period.
In addition, the 0.5% uptick was impacted by a more than 19% drop in bonus and other special payments being slashed, the data showed.
Base pay and other scheduled payments on average increased 1.5% from a year earlier in November to 249,550 yen (US$1,859), said the ministry.
Overtime pay and other nonscheduled wages were up 5.2% to 19,566 yen (US$145), the ministry also said.
For full-time workers, average monthly wages edged up 0.2% to 368,358 yen (US$2,745), according to the latest data.
Part-time workers’ average wages increased 2.2% to 101,888 yen (US$759), meanwhile, the ministry said. – Bernama, January 6, 2023
