Japan March real wages down for third month, overtime pay falls

Reuters

Thu, May 8, 2025, 4:32 PM 2 min read

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese existent wages decreased for a 3rd consecutive period successful March against the inheritance of relentless inflation, portion overtime salaries fell astatine the fastest gait successful astir a year, authorities information showed connected Friday.

The wage information volition adhd to worries implicit Japan's maturation outlook, alongside tariff threats and uncertainty implicit monetary policy, up of a first-quarter gross home merchandise announcement adjacent week. Economists are expecting a contraction.

Inflation-adjusted existent wages, a cardinal determinant of households' purchasing power, dropped 2.1% successful March from a twelvemonth earlier pursuing a revised 1.5% autumn successful February and a 2.8% diminution successful January, labour ministry information showed.

The user ostentation complaint the ministry uses to cipher existent wages, which includes caller nutrient prices but not rent costs, roseate 4.2% year-on-year successful March, somewhat easing from February's 4.3% summation but inactive astatine elevated levels owed to rising nutrient costs.

Regular pay, oregon basal salary, grew 1.3% successful March, the aforesaid gait arsenic successful February aft a downward revision. But overtime wage fell 1.1%, pursuing February's revised 2.4% growth, indicating a imaginable softening successful concern activity.

It marked the archetypal dip successful overtime wage since September, and the alteration was the sharpest since April past year.

Total mean currency earnings, oregon nominal pay, accrued 2.1% to 308,572 yen ($2,132) successful March, which was slower than a revised 2.7% emergence successful the erstwhile month.

In March, large Japanese firms connected mean agreed to much than 5% wage hikes during yearly outpouring wage talks, but the effect of specified raises typically begins to amusement up successful the government's wage information for April oregon later.

($1 = 144.7500 yen)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Andrew Heavens)