Japan's wage hike rate rises to 3.8 percent

Tomoko Yoshino, chairwoman of Rengo Japanese Trade Union Confederation raises her fist to say Ganbaro Let s do our best for higher wages in Tokyo on March 7. Jumpei Miura The wage hike rate reached an average of 3.8 percent from the same time the previous year, Japan's most influential labor union group reported on March 17.

Rengo Japanese Trade Union Confederation released its first aggregate results on Tuesday, showing an increase of 1.66 percentage points from the same time a year ago due to the unusually high cost of living and labor shortages.

It will be a record high since 1994 if the final aggregate results exceed 3 percent at the end of June.

The figure was based on reports submitted by Rengo's member labor unions before 10 a.m. on March 17.

The rate hike in wages includes the annual wage hike and across-the board pay increases.

The figure had been around 2 percent in the last few years. The figure went up this year.

Pay increases, which are important in raising the average wages for workers, were 2.33 percent on average. That is much less than the central government's estimate of consumer prices for fiscal 2022, which was about 3 percent.

It is not known if this trend will continue among smaller businesses as large companies have announced a major wage hike this year.