Japanese workers’ real wages have fallen for the 11th straight month despite a government push for higher pay, highlighting the challenge awaiting incoming Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda.
Real cash earnings for Japan’s workers dropped 2.6% from a year earlier in February, matching economists’ forecast, the labor ministry reported Friday. The data is watched closely because many expect stronger pay data to prompt the BOJ, under its new chief, to consider ending its ultraeasy policy.
This weekend Ueda takes over the thorny task of figuring out what to do with a decade’s worth of massive stimulus conducted under outgoing Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda. What happens to wages has been considered a key part of the puzzle, as Kuroda and Ueda have both argued that solid pay is a requirement for sustainable inflation.