MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan June Wages Rise; Real Pay Negative

--Japan June Average Wages +0.4% Y/Y, 1st Rise in 6 Months; May -0.5% 

--Japan June Real Average Wages -0.5% Y/Y; 6th Straight Drop; May -1.3% 

--Japan June Base Wages +0.1% Y/Y, 1st Rise in 6 Months 

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

--Japan June Bonuses, Other Special Pay +0.9% Y/Y, May -0.4%

     TOKYO (MNI) - Average wages in Japan rose 0.4% year-on-year in June, the

first rise in six months following a 0.5% decline in May and real wages are

still in negative territory, preliminary data released Tuesday 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 rose

0.4% year-on-year to Y451,918 in June, the first rise in six months following a

0.5% fall in May.

     --In real terms, average wages fell 0.5% year-on-year in June, the sixth

straight drop following a 1.3% fall in May. Total CPI minus impute rents rose

0.8% year-on-year in June, slowing from +0.9% in May.

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

June from a year earlier, the first rise in six months after falling 0.6% the

previous month.

     --Overtime pay fell 0.2% year-on-year in June, the first drop in two months

after rising 0.9% in May.

     --The government left its assessment unchanged from the previous month,

saying that wages are increasing moderately. An official said that total wages

posted the first rise in six months but the gain came largely from higher

bonuses and other special pay. It is uncertain whether the total wages have

continued rising in or after July and the government left its assessment

unchanged.

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

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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