Japan June Wages Down on Lower Bonuses, Overtime Pay

--Japan June Avg Wages -0.4% Y/Y, 1st Drop in 13 Months

--Japan June Real Avg Wages -0.8% Y/Y; 1st Drop in 3 Months

--Japan June Base Wages +0.4% Y/Y, 3rd Straight Rise

--Japan June Overtime Pay -0.2% Y/Y, 1st Drop in 2 Months

--Japan June Special Pay -1.5% Y/Y, 1st Drop in 5 Months

     TOKYO (MNI) - Preliminary average wage data from the Monthly Labour Survey

released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on Friday.

     * Total monthly average cash earnings per regular employee in Japan fell

0.4% on year to Y429,686 in June, posting the first year-on-year drop in 13

months after rising 0.6% in May, hit by a decline in summer bonuses and

continued weak overtime pay. But bonuses and other special pay as well as

overtime pay may be revised up when data from more surveyed firms are added

later. 

     * In real terms, average wages slumped 0.8% on year, the first drop in

three months after being flat in the previous two months. The weak trend was

caused by a rise in the cost of living, with the total CPI minus imputed rents

up 0.5% on year in June, amid slow base wage hikes.

     * Base wages, the key to a recovery in cash earnings, rose 0.4% in June

from a year earlier, the third consecutive year-on-year rise, but the pace of

increase slowed from +0.7% in May. Hourly base wages of regular employees

working part time gained 3.1% on year after +2.3% in the previous month while

base wages for full-time workers rose just 0.2% on year after +0.5% in May.

     * Overtime pay fell 0.2% on year in June after rising 0.3% in May, the

first drop in three months. Overtime working hours dipped 0.2% on year for the

first drop in six months after +1.6% in May.

     * Bonuses and other special pay fell 1.5% from a year before. It was the

first drop in five months after +1.3% the previous month.

     * Japanese policymakers have been urging firms to share more profits with

workers but firms remain cautious about raising base wages amid uncertainty over

the outlook for global and domestic demand.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com

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