Japanese Labour Ministry panel proposes record minimum wage hike, Nikkei reports
Achieving real wage growth has become a top policy priority for Japan, as persistent inflation continues to squeeze households. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition lost control of the upper house in an election in July, highlighting growing frustration with the government's response.
The proposed hike would raise the average minimum wage to 1,118 yen ($7.57) per hour, surpassing last year's 5% increase and marking the largest rise since the current system was introduced 23 years ago, Nikkei said. It did not specify a source for the information.
A spokesperson for the Labour Ministry could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.
Ishiba pledged last year to raise the average minimum wage by 42% to 1,500 yen per hour by the end of the decade, bringing forward the target from the original mid-2030s goal set by the previous administration.
Higher minimum wages carry significant implications for Japan's wage trajectory, especially given that the proportion of workers affected by minimum wage revisions is relatively high compared to other developed economies.
However, steep wage hikes pose risks for small businesses, which employ about 70% of Japan's workforce, as these firms already allocate a larger share of profits to wages than their larger counterparts and may struggle to absorb further increases.
($1 = 147.7600 yen)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Fed's Daly says time is nearing for rate cuts, may need more than two
Aug 4 (Reuters) - San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Monday said that given mounting evidence that the U.S. job market is softening and no signs of persistent tariff-driven inflation, the time is nearing for interest rate cuts. "I was willing to wait another cycle, but I can't wait forever," Daly said of the Fed's decision last week to leave short-term borrowing costs in their 4.25%-4.50% range rather than cut them, as a couple of her colleagues wanted and as President Donald Trump has demanded. While that doesn't mean a September rate cut is a lock, she said, "I would lean to thinking that every meeting going forward is a live meeting to think about these policy adjustments." The two quarter-point interest-rate cuts that Fed policymakers back in June penciled in for this year still "look to be an appropriate amount of recalibration, and less important is, does it happen in September and December than does it happen at all kinds of permutations to get those two cuts." Daly said there is still plenty of data including a couple of labor market and inflation reports due out before the Fed's policy-setting meeting, in September, and she's keeping an open mind. "We of course could do fewer than two (rate cuts) if inflation picks up and spills over or if the labor market springs back," Daly said. But "I think the more likely thing is that we might have to do more than also should be prepared in my judgment to do more if the labor market looks to be entering that period of weakness and we still haven't seen spillovers to inflation." A Labor Department report Friday showed U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, and massive revisions to previously reported data showed only 33,000 jobs were added in the two prior months. Those figures, to Daly's mind, don't mean the job market is precariously weak - in times of economic flux, she said, raw employment numbers are often less informative than ratios like the unemployment rate, which ticked up just a tenth of a percentage point in July to 4.2%. Still, she said, looking at a broad dashboard of labor-market measures, there is "evidence after piece of evidence" that the labor market is softening quite a bit compared to last year. "I would see further softening as an unwelcome result," she said. "I'm comfortable with the decision we made in July, but I am increasingly less comfortable with making that decision again and again." At the same time, she said, there's no evidence that tariff-driven price increases are seeping more broadly into inflation, and if the Fed waits long enough to be certain it won't -- a process that could take six months or a year, she said - the Fed will "for sure" be too late to move. The Fed is approaching a "tradeoff space where you are trying to make a judgment about where does policy need to be to continue to put downward pressure on inflation, and where does it need to be to continue to make sure that sustainable employment can be achieved," she said. "That's why I didn't think that July was a necessary change, but I do think, increasingly, policy is not aligned."
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Price of British pint will reach staggering figure by 2030 due to soaring inflation, study claims
A PINT of lager could hit £13 in under five years, a study claims. Inflation and soaring outgoings for pubs will see it double by 2030. The report puts the current average pint of a standard brand at £5.17 — and £6.10 in London. It predicts it could reach £8 nationwide by 2030 — and £11 in cities. But it warns: 'Touristy zones and stadiums could even see £12 to £13 pints becoming the norm.' The study by online review site PlayCasino forecasts Peroni rising from an average £6.83 to £11.33 and San Miguel from £6.36 to £10.55. Carlsberg will jump from £4.23 to £7.02, Stella Artois from £5.27 to £8.74 and Heineken from £6.00 to £9.95 The report says the rise in the national living wage has hit landlords. It highlighted increases to spiralling energy bills, alcohol duty hikes, and the rocketing costs of ingredients, packaging and transport. It adds: 'With the end of pandemic support many pubs are still catching up financially.' One landlord who responded to researchers, commented: "Our energy bills have tripled, stock costs are up and we're still recovering from the pandemic. "Prices are rising because they have to - or we don't survive." The priciest and cheapest places in UK to buy a beer 1
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
India's IndusInd Bank appoints industry veteran Rajiv Anand as CEO
Aug 4 (Reuters) - India's IndusInd Bank said on Monday that its board has appointed Rajiv Anand as chief executive officer for a three-year term starting August 25. Anand, a veteran banker, is currently the deputy managing director at private lender Axis Bank ( opens new tab, and has held key management positions at leading global financial institutions. He was one of three candidates shortlisted by the bank's board, Reuters reported last month. The two other candidates were Rahul Shukla and Anup Saha. Anand's appointment was confirmed following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) clearance, which has the final authority on senior banking appointments. IndusInd Bank took a $230 million hit in the year ended March 31 due to years of misaccounting of internal derivative trades, prompting the resignations of CEO Sumant Kathpalia and deputy Arun Khurana in April. In the absence of a chief executive, the bank has been steered by the board and a panel of two senior officials. Last week, the Mumbai-based bank said its "financials have returned to profitability", as it swung back to profit in the first quarter after its biggest-ever loss in the previous three months.
