Japan left behind as global wage growth outstrips inflation

TOKYO — Inflation has receded at the global level, but Japan remains the only major economy where income has failed to rise in real terms, official data shows.

Real wages rose 0.7% on the year in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2023, compared with 1.6% in the U.K. and 0.6% in Germany, according to materials compiled in December by Japan’s Cabinet Office. This marked the second straight quarter of growth in the three countries. In the second quarter, the U.S. logged its first positive growth in real wages in nine quarters.