MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan May Wages Dn; Real Pay Negative

--Japan May Average Wages -2.1% Y/Y; Real Average Wages -2.1% Y/Y

     TOKYO (MNI) - Average Japanese wages fell 2.1% y/y in May, recording a

second straight drop following -0.7% in April. Real wages also remain in

negative territory, preliminary data released Tuesday 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 fell 2.1% y/y to

Y269,341 in May.

     --In real terms, average wages fell 2.1% y/y in May, a third straight drop

following a 0.8% decline in April. Total CPI minus impute rents was unchanged

from a year earlier, slowing from +0.1% in April.

     --Base wages rose 0.2% from a year earlier after rising 0.1% in April.

     --Overtime pay plunged 25.8% y/y in May following a 12.8% fall previously.

The decrease was mainly due to a drop in overtime working hours (-29.7% y/y in

May vs. -18.9% in April) amid a slowing economy triggered by the coronavirus

pandemic. Bonuses and other special pay fell 11.3% y/y in May, for the first

drop in two months following April's 8.5% rise.

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

working hours fell in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus.

--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: M$A$$$,M$J$$$]