Japan's real wages down every month in 2025

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - ⁠Japan's real ⁠wages ‍shrank in December for a 12th consecutive month, as nominal pay growth slightly undershot ‍slowing consumer inflation, labour ministry data showed on ​Monday.

Wage trends are among the most important data factors for ​the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to decide the next interest hike, after a December hike of 25bp to 0.75%.

* Inflation-adjusted real ​wages, a key gauge of consumerpurchasing power, fell 0.1% in December from a year earlier.This extended ​a contraction that started in January 2025,although the pace of decrease was ‌the slowest since. * Average nominal wages, or total cash earnings, increased2.4% in December from ​a year earlier, to stand ⁠at 631,986 yen($4,029), up from revised growth of 1.7% in the previous month. * ‌Regular pay, or base salary, rose 2.2% in December, alsopicking up pace from revised growth of 1.9% in November.Overtime ‌pay, a barometer of private-sector strength, gained0.9% in December, slowing ‌slightly from November's rise of 1.2%. * Special payments, consisting mostly of one-time winterbonuses, rose 2.6% in December, up from November's ‍revised gainof 1.5%. * Full-year released on Monday showed Japan's real wageswere down 1.3% ⁠in 2025, for a fourth year of shrinkage in realannual pay since 2022, when consumer inflation started toovershoot the BOJ's target of 2%.

($1=156.8500 yen)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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