MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan Apr Wages Fall; Real Pay Stays Negative

--Japan Apr Average Wages -0.1% Y/Y, 4th Straight Drop; Mar -1.3% 

--Japan Apr Real Average Wages -1.1% Y/Y; Mar -1.9% 

--Japan Apr Base Wages +0.1% Y/Y, 1st Rise in 4 Months 

--Japan Apr Overtime Pay -1.1% Y/Y, 5th Straight Drop 

--Japan Apr Bonuses, Other Special Pay -3.2% Y/Y, Mar -9.4%

     TOKYO (MNI) - Japan's average wages fell 0.1% on year in April, the fourth

straight year-on-year drop following a 1.3% decline in March, with real wages

also in negative territory, preliminary data released Friday by the Ministry of

Health, Labour and Welfare showed.

     The key points from the Monthly Labour Survey:

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

0.1% on year to Y277,261 in April, the fourth straight year-on-year drop

following a 1.3% fall in March.

     --In real terms, average wages fell 1.1% on year in April, the fourth

straight drop following a 1.9% fall in March. Total CPI minus imputed rents rose

1.0% on year in April, up from +0.6% in March.

     --Base wages, the key to a steady recovery in cash earnings, rose 0.1% in

April from a year earlier, the first rise in four months after falling 0.6% in

the previous month. Overtime pay fell 1.1% on year in April, the fifth straight

y/y drop after falling 1.5% in March.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MAJDS$,M$A$$$,M$J$$$]