A: Yo, Sakura! Guess what? Did you hear about the wages thingy?

B: Nope, tell me, what happened?

A: Well, it's not good news... Inflation-adjusted wages took a huge dip in May, making it the largest drop in nearly two years! Prices are rising faster than salaries.

B: Oh no! How bad is it?

A: Turns out, real pay dropped 2.9% from last year! That's the sharpest decrease since September 2023, and it's the fifth month in a row with a decline.

B: Whoa, that's a lot! What did they survey to find this out?

A: They asked around 30,000 businesses across Japan with at least five employees.

B: And how much did workers make on average?

A: On average, they took home about 2,070 dollars, including base pay and overtime. That's up 1% from last year, but it's been rising for 41 months straight.

B: But what about the base pay? How did that fare?

A: Base pay stood at around 1,850 dollars, which is a 2.1% increase and marks the 43rd month in a row with an increase.

B: That's not too bad... But what about inflation?

A: Inflation rate was above 3% for the sixth month in a row in May. So, it seems like we're stuck in this cycle for now.
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Japan's inflation-adjusted wages posted their largest drop in nearly two years in May. Surging prices continued to outpace salary increases.



Preliminary data from the labor ministry on Monday show that real pay fell 2.9 percent from the same month last year. That is the sharpest drop since September 2023 and marks the fifth straight month of decline.



The ministry surveyed about 30,000 businesses nationwide with at least five employees.



Workers took home 300,141 yen, or about 2,070 dollars, on average. That includes base pay and overtime. The figure is up 1 percent year-on-year, and has risen for 41 consecutive months.



Base pay stood at 268,177 yen, or about 1,850 dollars. That is up 2.1 percent and marks the 43rd straight month of gains.



Japan's inflation rate remained above 3 percent for a sixth month in a row in May.