P. M. BRIEFING : Japanese Expect Big Pay Raise
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TOKYO — Japanese workers, already among the highest paid in the world, are expected to win their biggest pay increase in eight years in 1990, economists said today.
But they said the raise is unlikely to be large enough to spark an inflationary spiral and a further rise in Japanese interest rates.
“We expect an average 5.5% to 6% wage increase,” said Yoshihiro Furukane, senior economist at the Yamaichi Research Institute of Securities and Economics.
That would be the biggest increase since 1982 and compares with an average 5.2% pay hike in the current fiscal year ending March 31.
Labor shortages--there are 132 jobs for every 100 job seekers--and healthy corporate profits are expected to push wages higher, economists said.
“But that will not adversely affect inflation. It will only boost consumer spending,” Furukane said.
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