Japan wage hikes widen; smaller firms miss target

NHK

11 hours ago

Japan's biggest labor group says average wage increases were higher-than-targeted in spring negotiations, even though small and mid-size companies missed the goal for raises.
Average monthly pay went up 5.25 percent based on the 5,100 firms that provided information as of July 1. That's up by 0.15 percentage points from last year, and exceeded the 5 percent target set by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation.
But the labor group says companies with fewer than 300 employees raised pay an average of 4.65 percent, missing the federation's 6 percent goal.
The group, also known as Rengo, says smaller firms faced sluggish demand as consumer prices rose and they were not able to pass along higher costs. Large Japan firms see record-high summer bonus
Meanwhile, the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, says summer bonuses at major firms in Japan averaged about 990,000 yen, or roughly 6,800 dollars.
That's up 4.37 percent from last year in yen terms, marking an increase for the fourth straight year.
The figure was the highest since the federation started the survey under the current method in 1981.