Interesting Bloomberg article regarding the Japan labor cost data from earlier:

  • Regular wages excluding overtime and bonuses fell 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier,
  • 16th straight month of decline,
  • Total cash earnings rose 0.1 percent

“The key for the success of Abenomics is whether companies will raise wages,” Norio Miyagawa, a senior economist at Mizuho Securities Research and Consulting Co. in Tokyo, said

  • Wages are falling behind price gains. National consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, a fourth straight increase.
  • Trade union negotiations with management on salaries in talks known as “shunto,” or the spring wage offensive — begin around March next year