By JUNICHI MIYAGAWA/ Staff Writer
November 7, 2024 at 18:03 JST
While real wages continue declining, nominal wages that do not account for inflation saw increases in September. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The labor ministry released a preliminary report on Nov. 7 indicating real wages per worker dropped 0.1 percent for September year on year.
Real wages are adjusted for inflation. The monthly labor survey's September results marked the second consecutive month of decline.
Real wages increased in June for the first time in 27 months, but the upswing was short-lived.
Nominal wages for September—the actual earnings per worker that do not factor in inflation—increased by 2.8 percent to 292,551 yen ($1,898).
Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index used to calculate real wages also rose by 2.9 percent in September.
The 0.1 percent dip is the result of subtracting the CPI's rate of increase from nominal wages.
The CPI decreased by 0.55 percent due to electricity and gas subsidies in the September billing period.
Scheduled cash earnings of the total cash earnings per worker bumped up 2.6 percent to 264,194 yen for September, the largest rate of increase in 31 years. This covers instances like individuals' basic monthly salary that does not include additional income such as overtime pay.
Additionally, special pay—including bonuses—rose 16.1 percent to 9,193 yen.
Looking at the total cash earnings by employment type, full-time employees saw an increase of 2.6 percent to 372,881 yen. Part-time employees experienced an 1.8 percent bump to 106,903 yen.
The labor ministry also announced the survey result of summer bonuses paid from June through August on the same day.
Companies that offer them boosted the amount of their summer bonuses by 2.3 percent to 414,515 yen. The amount of bonuses per worker for all employees, including those who work for companies that do not offer bonuses, rose 5.7 percent to 349,436 yen.
“Prices remain high and whether real wages will increase is unclear. We will continue to pay attention to the trends in prices,” a ministry official said.
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