Japan's real wage rose 1.5% in August... Increased for 8 consecutive months

Impact of wage increase and slowdown in price growth... Longest rise in 10 years

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Lee-rak = Japan's real wages, which reflect price changes, continued to increase for eight consecutive months, setting a record for the longest increase in about 10 years.

According to the August Labor Statistics Survey (preliminary data, for employees with 5 or more employees) announced by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on the 7th, real wages per worker minus price changes increased by 1.5% compared to the same month last year.

Japan's real wages have continued to increase for eight consecutive months since turning positive in January of this year.

Kyodo News reported that this is the longest record in about 10 years since February 2016 to January 2017 (12 consecutive months).

The rise in real wages is interpreted as the effect of a slight slowdown in price growth along with the effect of wage increases following the conclusion of wage negotiations (Spring Struggle) this spring.

The total amount of cash benefits per person, equivalent to nominal wages, in August was 311,364 yen (about 2,633,000 won), an increase of 3.8% from a year ago and maintaining a high rate of increase in the 3% range for 7 consecutive months.

On the other hand, the consumer price index increase rate was 2.2%, lower than the same month last year (3.1%).

However, some say that the real wage increase has decreased from the 2% range in June and July, so the perceived economic performance is still sluggish.

As food prices continue to rise and the government's subsidies for electricity and gas bills are also about to end, some say that whether the real wage increase will continue to depend on price trends.