Wages in Japan increase in April for 3rd straight month

Real wages in Japan increased 0.3 percent in April on year marking the third successive month of growth, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a preliminary report on Friday.

According to the ministry, average wages on an inflation-adjusted basis increased by 0.6 percent in the recording month, while wages calculated on a nominal basis stood at an average of 274,984 yen (2,522 U.S. dollars) the ministry said.

Scheduled wages and base pay grew 0.2 percent to 243,275 yen, with unscheduled wages, including pay for overtime work, climbing 1.0 percent to 20,432 yen. Bonuses and other special payments, not included in scheduled wages, increased 4.3 percent to 11,277 yen, the ministry also said.

Analysts noted however that while wage increases generally point to the pace of salary increases quickening which could have a knock-on effect of increased consumption, the latest figures from the ministry show that the rate of the total sum of increase remains comparatively low.

By comparison, separate data released recently by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, showed that household spending, a key indicator of private consumption, dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in April from a year earlier to 298,520 yen.

The income of salaried households, however, one of the most important gauges of salary conditions in Japan, increased 1 percent in real terms, to 480,098 yen, the ministry's latest figures showed. Endit