Japan's real wages declined for the 23rd consecutive month in February, matching the longest period of downturn on record, as salary increases failed to keep pace with inflation, according to government data released Monday.
With the 1.3 percent drop in February, the country tied its longest decline in real wages since comparable data became available in 1991. The last such losing streak was from September 2007 to July 2009 during the global financial crisis sparked by the failure of U.S. securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Real wage growth, crucial for overcoming Japan's deflationary stagnation, has lagged behind price hikes, eroding households' purchasing power for nearly two years as prices for everyday goods have continued rising due to higher raw material costs and a weak yen.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has repeatedly asked business leaders to increase wages at a pace exceeding inflation.
Although the decline in the reporting month accelerated slightly from a revised 1.1 percent in January, it narrowed compared with the 2.5 percent decrease in the whole of 2023, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
"Price rises have begun to stabilize," a ministry official said. The impact of the "shunto" spring wage negotiations that saw the highest pay increases in 33 years at major Japanese companies will be reflected in future data, according to the ministry.
At this spring's wage negotiations, domestic companies agreed to wage increases averaging 5.24 percent, according to a survey released Thursday by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation.
Nominal wages, the average total monthly cash earnings per worker, including base and overtime pay, climbed 1.8 percent to 282,265 yen ($1,900), up for the 26th straight month.
Excluding special pay, average wages rose 2.0 percent to 277,479 yen, of which overtime pay and other nonscheduled wages were down 1.0 percent at 19,160 yen, the data showed.
The average monthly nominal wages of full-time workers rose 2.0 percent to 360,616 yen, while those of part-time workers increased 3.1 percent to 105,268 yen.
Total working hours per worker fell 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 135.1.
The consumer price index, used to calculate real wages, rose 3.3 percent in the reporting month.
Average winter bonuses for 2023 grew 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 395,647 yen, marking the highest level since 2008 and the third consecutive year of increase, with 69.0 percent of all businesses awarding bonuses, the ministry said.
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