Japanese price-adjusted real wages in March rose the most in 5-1/2 years due to stalling inflation and rising nominal wages, government data showed on Monday, providing welcome news for policymakers counting on pay rises to spur private consumption.
Wage growth holds the key to the success of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics reflationary policy aimed at pulling the world's third-largest economy out of two decades of deflation and stagnation by generating private sector-led growth.
Real wages, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.4 percent in March from a year earlier, the biggest gain since September 2010, data by the labor ministry showed.
It was the second straight month of annual gains, which should ease policymakers' concerns about tepid wages that lag behind price increases eroding consumers' purchasing power.