MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan Mar Wages Up; Real Pay Turns Negative

--Japan Mar Average Wages +0.1% Y/Y; 3rd Straight Rise

--Japan Mar Real Average Wages -0.3% Y/Y; 1st Drop in 3 Months

     TOKYO (MNI) - Average Japanese wages rose 0.1% y/y in March, higher for a

third straight month after February's 0.7% gain, although real wages turned

negative, preliminary data released Friday by the Ministry of Health, Labour and

Welfare showed.

     Here are the key points from the Monthly Labour Survey:

     --Total monthly average cash earnings per regular employee rose 0.1% y/y to

Y281,812 in March, for a third straight gain following a 0.7% rise in February.

     --In real terms, average wages fell 0.3% y/y in March, the first drop in

three months following a 0.2% increase in February. Total CPI minus impute rents

rose 0.5% y/y, unchanged from February.

     --Base wages, the key to a steady recovery in cash earnings, rose 0.7% y/y

after rising 0.6% previously, registering a fourth straight gain.

     --Overtime pay fell 4.1% y/y in March following a 1.8% fall in Feb. The

decrease was mainly due to a drop in overtime working hours amid slowing

economy. Bonuses and other special pay fell 3.0% y/y in March, for the first

drop in three months following February's 28.9% gain.

     --The government didn't offer its monthly assessment, only saying that

working hours fell in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus. "Nominal wages

rose due to the drop in the ratio of part-time workers but (real) wages fell due

to the drop of working hours," a government official said.

--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$$$,M$J$$$]