Japan May wages revised to +0.8 pct from +0.2 pct

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

TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) - Japanese wage earners' total cash
earnings rose 0.8 percent in May from a year earlier, revised
data showed on Wednesday, up from a preliminary reading of a 0.2
percent rise.

Overtime pay, a barometer of the strength of corporate
activity, was revised up to a 0.1 percent fall compared with a
1.0 percent fall in preliminary data. But that reading still
marked the first fall in five months.

Total cash earnings, which include overtime pay, monthly
wages and special payments, rose for the fifth straight month,
after having fallen 0.7 percent last year.

But some economists say the firmness in total earnings so far
this year may be due to a change in the sampling in January.

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

MAY MAY APR

(revised) (prelim)
Payments (yen) yr/yr change (pct)
Total cash earnings 277,395 yen +0.8 +0.2 +0.8

Monthly wage 269,730 yen +0.5 +0.1 +0.7

-Regular pay 250,368 yen +0.6 +0.3 +0.7

-Overtime pay 19,362 yen -0.1 -1.0 +0.8

-Special payments 7,665 yen +10.5 +2.4 +4.7
---------------------------------------------------------

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
at:
here
(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Hugh Lawson)