Photo/Illutration A board at the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions at Tokyo's Chuo Ward shows offers made by employers during the “shunto” spring wage negotiations on March 13. (Hikaru Uchida)

Inflation-adjusted real wages in Japan rose for the first time in more than two years in June, the labor ministry reported on Aug. 6.

Real wages per worker increased by 1.1 percent year on year, according to the preliminary monthly labor survey for that month.

The increase marked the first in 27 months since March 2022.

A major factor behind the increase was the hike in workers' bonuses, which largely fluctuates.

It is still unclear, however, if the rise in real wages will continue.

The nominal wages, or the actual cash earnings per worker for June, rose by 4.5 percent to 498,884 yen ($3,404), marking the 30th consecutive month of increase.

That rate of increase was the highest in more than 27 years since January 1997.

The Consumer Price Index, which is used to calculate real wages, for June also increased by 3.3 percent. However, the increase in nominal wages exceeded the rate of the increase in the CPI.

As a result, real wages increased by 1.1 percent.

Real wages had been declining for 26 consecutive months from April 2022 to May 2024 affected by the surge in the CPI.

Among the total cash earnings per worker for June, scheduled cash earnings such as basic monthly salary without extra pay for overtime increased 2.3 percent to 264,859 yen.

Meanwhile, special pay including bonuses rose 7.6 percent to 214,542 yen, boosting the total cash earnings for June.

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