Japanese wages eked out meager gains in September, the latest indication of a weak pay trend that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to strengthen via an upcoming stimulus package.
Cash earnings for Japan’s workers edged up 0.2% compared with a year earlier, the labor ministry reported Tuesday. Economists had predicted a 0.6% gain. The incremental rise shows that pay has yet to get a major recovery boost as the pandemic eases.
Kishida has made it one of his missions as leader to raise wages and support the middle class so that longer-term growth benefits a wider segment of the population. With that message, the prime minister fared better than expected in last month’s national election, maintaining a solid majority for the ruling party.