Japan’s real wages rise for first time in 27 months

Good move: An electronic stock board displays the Nikkei Stock Average outside a securities firm in Tokyo. Japan’s latest data comes as welcome news for the BoJ after it raised interest rates and unveiled a roadmap for quantitative tightening last week. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: Japanese workers’ real wages rose for the first time in more than two years, brightening the prospects for a recovery in consumption and the emergence of a positive growth cycle long sought by the Bank of Japan (BoJ).

Real cash earnings for workers climbed 1.1% in June from a year earlier, turning positive for the first time since March of 2022, the Labour Ministry said yesterday.