Japan's real wages mark biggest drop in 8 years in November

Japan's real wages dropped 3.8 percent in November, marking the biggest fall in more than eight years and declining for the eighth successive month, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the labour ministry, average monthly wages fell 3.8 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis from a year earlier, with the drop coming as the nation grapples with soaring prices for energy and food, further inflated by a weak yen.

The latest decline in average wages, as well as falling for an eighth straight month, is also the sharpest slide since wages here were forced down 4.1 percent in May 2014, when the consumption tax rate was hiked, the ministry's data showed.

According to the ministry, the average monthly cash earnings per worker in November edged up 0.5 percent to 283,895 yen (US$2,115) rising for an 11th straight month although the pace had slowed.

Despite the negligible gain, the ministry said when factoring in inflation, real wages had actually declined in the recording period.

In addition, the 0.5 percent uptick was impacted by a more than 19 percent drop in bonus and other special payments being slashed, the data showed.

Base pay and other scheduled payments on average increased 1.5 percent from a year earlier in November to US$1,859, said the ministry.

Overtime pay and other nonscheduled wages were up 5.2 percent to US$145, the ministry also said.

For full-time workers, average monthly wages edged up 0.2 percent to US$2,745, according to the latest data.

Part-time workers' average wages increased 2.2 percent to US$759, meanwhile, the ministry said.