Wages rose for the sixth straight month in June, revised figures showed Monday, as companies paid workers more bonuses than initially estimated.
Monthly wages, including overtime and bonuses, climbed 0.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6 percent drop reported last month, the labor ministry said.
The gains may not be enough to provide relief to consumers, whose battle with record energy prices earlier this year has pushed sentiment to a record low. Households pared spending for a fourth month in June and will probably keep cutting back as dwindling corporate profits dim job prospects.
"The increase in wages is providing support for households, but it may not be enough to offset the impact from high oil and food prices," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. in Tokyo. "Downside risks for wage growth are increasing as high energy costs squeeze profits."
A 0.9 percent increase in bonuses led to the increase in wages, said Akira Motokawa, head of the labor ministry's statistics division. He said the figure is "volatile" and isn't an indication that extra pay is trending higher.