REPEAT: MNI: Japan Feb Wages Continue To Rise; Real Wages Weak

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 05:34 GMT Apr 6/01:34 EST Apr 6

--Japan Feb Average Wages +1.3% Y/Y, 7th Straight Rise

--Japan Feb Real Average Wages -0.5% Y/Y, 3rd Straight Drop

--Japan Feb Base Wages +0.9% Y/Y, 11th Straight Rise

--Japan Feb Overtime Pay +1.0% Y/Y, 4th Straight Rise

--Japan Feb Special Pay +33.0% Y/Y, 7th Straight Rise

     TOKYO (MNI) - Preliminary average wage data from the Monthly Labour Survey

released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on Friday.

     * Total monthly average cash earnings per regular employee in Japan rose

1.3% on year to Y266,466 in February, posting the seventh straight year-on-year

rise after an upwardly revised 1.2% rise (vs. a preliminary +0.7%) in January,

but real wages remained depressed.

     * The ministry left its long-held assessment unchanged, saying wages are

increasing moderately.

     * In real terms, average wages dipped 0.5% on year in February, marking the

third straight year-on-year drop and the ninth fall in the past 12 months after

falling a revised 0.6% drop (vs. a preliminary -0.9%) in January. The weak trend

was caused by the recent increase in the cost of living, with the total CPI

minus imputed rents up 1.8% on year in February due to the recent surge in fresh

food prices.

     * Base wages, the key to a steady recovery in cash earnings, rose 0.9% in

February from a year earlier, the 11th straight year-on-year rise after +1.1%

(revised up from +0.2%) in January. Hourly base wages of regular employees

working part time gained 1.9% on year after a revised +2.6% (vs. a preliminary

+2.7%) in the previous month while base wages for full-time workers rose at a

slower pace of 0.7% after rising 1.0% (revised up from +0.5%) in January.

     * Overtime pay gained 1.0% on year in February, the fourth straight y/y

rise after rising 0.1% (revised from being unchanged) in January. Overtime

working hours fell 0.9% for the second straight year-on-year drop after falling

2.0% the previous month. Regular working hours fell 2.1% on year, the first drop

in five months after +0.1%, as there was one less business day in February,

compared to a year before.

     * Bonuses and other special pay jumped 33.0% from a year before, marking

the seventh straight year-on-year rise after +2.9% in January. This category

tends to fluctuate widely.

     * Japanese policymakers have been urging firms to share more profits with

workers but firms are generally cautious about raising base wages amid

uncertainty over the outlook for global and domestic demand.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com