More on Japan wages data: Real wages shrank in January for the 22nd consecutive month

I posted on the wages data from Japan earlier, noting that:

• real wages shrank in January at the slowest pace in over a year

Nevertheless, hopes are still high for some sort of policy move from the Bank of Japan, with the yen being bought. Its sent USD/JPY back under 149.00 for the first time in a month.

The Bank of Japan is watching the results of the Spring “shunto” wage talks as a key factor in its decision when to begin unwinding its massive monetary stimulus programme.

In January the consumer inflation rate the government uses to calculate real wages, which includes fresh food prices but excludes rent or equivalent, rose at the slowest pace since March 2022 at 2.5%. But it bounced back in the Tokyo data released earlier this week:

• Tokyo area CPI data for February jumps higher from January

USD/JPY update, I’m not sure how long its going to stay under 149:

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com. Source