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Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View

Japan’s most key labor-market indicators are flashing positive signs for longer-term inflation.

Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ). (Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese wage gains are starting to look durable enough to encourage workers to spend more, providing a stronger foundation for the Bank of Japan’s campaign to stoke higher prices.

Despite a small pullback from strikingly good figures in June, most key labor-market indicators are flashing positive signs for longer-term inflation.

As individual measures give only part of the picture, we’ve created a dashboard to show what Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is up against. Gauges that are moving in the right direction for wage pressure are colored green. Those that are neutral are orange, and red is for measures that need to improve.

Wages

Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View

Employment

Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View

Productivity

Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View
Kuroda’s Long-Sought Wage Inflation Is Slowly Coming Into View

Previous dashboards:

Note: Percentage changes and absolute numbers in the charts above show monthly changes versus a year earlier. Full-timer wages are scheduled wages excluding overtime and bonuses.

Sources: Ministries of labor and internal affairs, Japan Productivity Center.

To contact the reporter on this story: Connor Cislo in Tokyo at ccislo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brett Miller at bmiller30@bloomberg.net, Henry Hoenig

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.