Japan June wages revised up sharply on bonus

(For more on Japan's economy click [ID:nECONJP])

TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Japanese wage earners' total cash
earnings rose 0.4 percent in June from a year earlier, revised up
sharply from a preliminary reading of a 0.6 percent fall, due to
a revision of special bonuses.

Revised government data showed special payments in June,
which largely consist of "summer bonuses" that Japanese companies
pay to workers, rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier, compared
with a preliminary estimate of a 1.5 percent fall.

Still, the 0.4 percent increase in total cash earnings from a
year earlier was the slowest wage growth in six months and fell
short of core consumer inflation of 1.9 percent in that month,
suggesting many wage earners were worse off.

Overtime pay, a barometer of the strength of corporate
activity, was also revised down to a flat reading compared with a
0.1 percent rise in preliminary data.

The following table shows revised data for monthly
incomes in June:
---------------------------------------------------------

JUNE JUNE JUNE MAY

(revised) (prelim)
Payments (yen) yr/yr change (pct)
Total cash earnings 467,938 yen +0.4 -0.6 +0.8

Monthly wage 270,712 yen +0.2 +0.1 +0.5

-Regular pay 251,437 yen +0.1 0.0 +0.6

-Overtime pay 19,275 yen 0.0 +0.1 -0.1

-Special payments 197,226 yen +0.9 -1.5 +10.5
---------------------------------------------------------

The ministry defines "workers" as 1) those who are employed
for more than one month at a firm that employs more than five
people, or 2) those who are employed on a daily basis or have
less than a one-month contract but had worked more than 18 days
during the two months before the survey was conducted at a firm
that employs more than five people.

To view the full tables, see the welfare ministry's website:
here
(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Michael Watson)