— Japan July Avg Base Wages Revised -0.2% Y/Y Vs Unchanged
— Japan July Overtime Pay Revised +1.1% Y/Y Vs +0.3%
— Japan July Special Pay Revised -5.1% Y/Y Vs -4.3%

TOKYO (MNI) – The total average monthly cash earnings per regular
employee in Japan posted the third straight year-on-year drop in July,
down a revised 1.6% (preliminary -1.2%) at Y360,773 and posting the
largest drop in over a year, data from the Ministry of Health, Labour
and Welfare released on Tuesday showed.

Downward revisions to base wages and special pay more than offset
an upward revision to overtime pay, causing the sharpest drop in total
earnings since April 2011, when the average wages also fell 1.6%.

As reported in the preliminary data released earlier this month, a
rare drop in overtime working hours led to a much slower increase in
overtime pay while bonuses and other one-off pay remained depressed
compared with a year before, when Japan was trying to recover from the
March 11 earthquake disaster.

Overtime pay posted a 10th straight year-on-year rise but the pace
of increase decelerated sharply to +1.1% in July from +5.1% in June,
even after the upward revision (preliminary +0.3%).

Bonuses and other special pay fell a revised 5.1% on year
(initially -4.3%), posting the third straight drop after -0.8% in June.

Meanwhile, average “base wages” — the key indicator for a recovery
in employee earnings — fell 0.2% from a year earlier in July, revised
down from being unchanged in the initial reading. It now posted the
second straight y/y drop after -0.6%.

Overtime hours worked in the manufacturing sector rose a revised
0.8% in July (preliminary +1.4%), posting the 14th consecutive monthly
gain, but the pace of increase slowed from +6.1% in June.

Compared to the previous month, overtime hours worked at
manufacturers fell a revised 4.4% (preliminary -3.8%) on a seasonally
adjusted basis, marking the first month-on-month drop in two months
after +0.3% in June.

Total overtime hours worked for all industries fell an unrevised
0.8% on year in July, posting the first fall in 11 months after +1.2% in
June .

Total hours worked in July were unchanged from a year earlier in
the revised data (+0.1% in the initial reading), following -0.5% in June
and +3.2% in May.

The number of regular workers rose an unrevised 0.6% y/y in July
after +0.9% in June, maintaining year-over-year growth for over six
years since March 2006.

Regular employees are workers on permanent payrolls as well as
those with part-time status.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-6860-4821 **

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