November wages data from Japan:
- total cash earnings +0.5% yr/yr
- overtime pay +5.2% yr/yr
- inflation-adjusted real wages -3.8% yr/yr (Inflation -adjusted real wages are a key indicator of consumer purchasing power. They dropped at the fastest pace of decline since a 4.1% drop in May 2014 and followed a revised 2.9% fall in October. In negative territory for the eighth month in a row)
Japan needs to address the slow wage recovery because it is hurting households and reducing consumer spending. Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked businesses to increase wages faster than inflation to avoid stagflation: