Japanese workers’ nominal wages have risen at the fastest pace in nearly three decades on the back of strong corporate earnings and a tight labor market, in data likely to keep the Bank of Japan on course for further monetary tightening.
Nominal pay climbed 4.7% in July from a year earlier, following a revised 4% increase in June, the labor ministry reported Tuesday. The gain, the biggest since 1997, far exceeded economists’ forecast of 3.8% and marked a sixth straight month in which the advance exceeded 3%, the longest such streak in 34 years.
Real wages — adjusted for inflation excluding rents — gained 2.4%, marking the largest gain in about five years. Base pay also advanced 4.1%, while a more stable measure — which strips out bonuses and overtime and sampling distortions — rose 2.7% for full-time workers.