The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
TOKYO/WAM
Japan’s real wages fell 0.3 percent in November from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline, government data showed Thursday.
Kyodo News quoted the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as saying that nominal wages, or the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, increased 3.0 percent to 305,832 yen ($1,900), rising for the 35th straight month.
But consumer prices, used to calculate wage data, grew 3.4 percent in November, accelerating from a 2.6 percent increase in the previous month.
The ministry attributed the surge in prices to reduced government subsidies for utility bills and persistently higher food prices.
Excluding bonuses and nonscheduled payments, average wages rose 2.7 percent to 265,082 yen, the sharpest rise in 32 years, the data showed.