MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan Oct Wages Rise; Real Pay Positive

--Japan Oct Average Wages +0.5% Y/Y, 2nd Straight Rise; Sep +0.5% 

--Japan Oct Real Average Wages +0.1% Y/Y; 2nd Straight Rise; Sep +0.2% 

--Japan Oct Base Wages +0.6% Y/Y, 4th Straight Rise; Sep +0.3% 

--Japan Oct Overtime Pay 0.0% Y/Y, Sep -0.2% 

--Japan Oct Bonuses, Other Special Pay -4.4% Y/Y, Sep +9.1%

     TOKYO (MNI) - Average wages in Japan rose 0.5% year-on-year in October

following a

0.5% rise in September, with real wages staying in positive territory, according

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

Welfare.

     Here are the key points from the Monthly Labour Survey:

     --Total monthly average cash earnings per regular employee rose 0.5%

year-on-year to Y273,466 in October, the second straight rise following a 0.5%

rise in September.

     --In real terms, average wages rose 0.1% year-on-year in October, also the

second straight rise following a 0.2% rise in September. Total CPI minus impute

rents rose 0.3% year-on-year in October, unchanged from +0.3% in September.

     --Base wages, the key to a steady recovery in cash earnings, rose 0.6% in

October from a year earlier, the fourth straight rise after rising 0.3% the

previous month.

     --Overtime pay was unchanged from a year earlier in October following -0.2%

in September. Bonuses and other special pay fell 4.4% year-on-year in October,

the first drop in two months +9.4% in September.

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

saying that wages are showing a moderate increase.  

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

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

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