Japan set for largest ever minimum wage hike after panel proposal

TOKYO, Jul 29 (Reuters) - A Japanese government panel recommended on Friday that the national average minimum wage be raised by 41 yen ($0.29) an hour to 1,002 yen, the biggest hike ever in value terms, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes wages a key focus of his policies.

The health ministry panel's annual recommendation serves as the nationwide standard for minimum wages.

Kishida and the Bank of Japan are hoping that wage hikes can be sustained so that they generate more consumer spending that decisively lifts the world's third-largest economy out of decades of stagnation.

Japan's largest labour organisation, Rengo, said this month that major companies had agreed to average pay hikes of 3.58% this year, the highest level in three decades. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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