JAPAN DATA: Average monthly total cash earnings per regular
employee in Japan fell a revised 0.2% in January (preliminary +0.1%),
posting the 20th straight year-on-year drop after -5.9% in December,
instead of the first rise in 20 months as reported earlier, data from
the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released on showed. But the
revised data still showed a continued improvement in wages: overtime
pays turned positive. In inflation adjusted terms, the average total
wage rose a revised 1.2% y/y (preliminary +1.6%) in January after
slumping by 4.2% in December and posting rare y/y gains in October
(+1.0%) and September (+0.6%), when consumer prices fell at a faster
pace. It has improved from the record -5.2% in June 2009.