Indicators
Japan’s Real Wages Rise First Time in 27 Months in June
- Household spending falls on year while edging up versus May
- Wage gains come after unions won biggest raises in 30 years
Personal consumption has fallen in every quarter for the last year, and the BOJ has said for some time that it’s expecting a rebound.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Japanese workers’ real wages rose for the first time in more than two years, brightening the prospects for a recovery in consumption and the emergence of a positive growth cycle long sought by the Bank of Japan.
Real cash earnings for workers climbed 1.1% in June from a year earlier, turning positive for the first time since March of 2022, the labor ministry reported Tuesday. Economists had expected the reading to remain negative at minus 0.9%. Nominal wages grew 4.5%, far surpassing the consensus estimate of a 2.4% rise.