Average cash earnings in Japan rose 4.6% year-on-year in September 2026, accelerating from a slightly upwardly revised 3.9% increase in August and marking the fastest pace of growth since January 1997. The result also beat market expectations for a 3.8% gain.
Regular pay, including base salaries, increased 3.7%, while growth in overtime pay eased to 3.6% from a revised 4.9% in the previous month. By contrast, special payments—comprising largely volatile one-off bonuses—surged 32.6% following a revised 1.8% rise in August. However, the labour ministry noted that this sharp increase was mainly due to a statistical anomaly rather than a genuine jump in bonus payments.
Wage growth was particularly strong in the finance and insurance sector (12.5%) and in academic research and professional services (8.5%), whereas living-related and personal services recorded a 1.2% decline.
Meanwhile, real wages increased 2.2%, registering the ninth consecutive month of gains and picking up from a revised 1.6% rise in August.
