Column Finance and the Social Security System 2018.03.06
Despite the fact that companies continue to experience record high profits, people are not feeling the strong economy. On February 7, 2018, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released data that shows that nominal wages grew by 0.4% in 2017. Consumer prices increased by 0.6%; as a result, real wages actually declined by 0.2%.
However, as shown in Table 1, nominal wages in the healthcare/welfare industry increased by 1.4%, which after accounting for inflation, resulted in a 0.8% increase in real terms. Although details are not shown in Table 1, nominal wages are not increasing in non-manufacturing industries other than the healthcare/welfare and the wholesale / retail industries.
(Source)Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare