Japanese workers’ real wages fell by the most since 2014 despite the government’s push for more pay, underscoring the difficulty of achieving the central bank’s goal of inflation accompanied by robust wage gains.
Real cash earnings for Japan’s workers declined 4.1% from a year earlier in January, slipping for a 10th consecutive month, the labor ministry reported Tuesday. The worse-than-expected drop suggested Japan is still far from a virtuous economic cycle, as inflation continued to outpace gains in wages. A slump in bonuses for part-timers dragged on overall pay.
Growth in nominal wages sharply slowed from the previous month’s highest jump in a quarter century, which was largely driven by soaring winter bonuses.