Big Japan Firms Raise Pay by 5.38 Pct

Tokyo, May 22 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese companies agreed to raise monthly pay by 5.38 pct, or 19,342 yen, on average in this year's "shunto" spring labor-management wage talks, the first tally by the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, showed Thursday.

The results marked a second consecutive year of a large wage increase following last year's rise of 5.58 pct, or 19,480 yen. A wage increase exceeded 10,000 yen for three years in a row, the longest spell since the early 1990s.

Many companies raised wages to fight rising inflation and secure personnel, said an official at Keidanren, the country's largest employers' group. This year's results underscored that the momentum of large pay increases is taking root, the official said.

The tally covered 97 companies in 17 sectors.

Companies in 10 sectors raised wages at a faster pace than in the previous year.

In particular, nonmanufacturers raised wages markedly to address labor shortages. Wages rose 7.97 pct in the telecommunication industry, 5.64 pct in the construction industry and 5.47 pct in the railway industry.

In the manufacturing sector, wages grew 6.21 pct in the nonferrous metal industry, 5.84 pct in the chemical industry and 4.72 pct in the auto industry.

Keidanren expects companies to give priority to investment in personnel so that wage increases will continue to outpace inflation, the official said.

The group will release its final tally result in late July.

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