(Update) Japan Govt Panel Proposes Record 63-Yen Minimum Wage Hike

   Tokyo, Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese government panel recommended on Monday a hike of 63 yen, or 6.0 pct, in the average minimum hourly wage in the country for fiscal 2025, up from the previous year's proposal of a 50-yen increase and marking a record size.
   The recommendation by the Central Minimum Wages Council, which advises the labor minister, would raise the average minimum wage to 1,118 yen per hour, with bottom-line pay likely exceeding 1,000 yen in all 47 prefectures of the country based on the proposal. The recommended hike reflects rising prices of rice and other goods.
   Based on the proposal, the prefectures' minimum wages councils will make their own decisions, and the new wages will apply from early October.
   To compile the latest minimum wage proposal, the government council sorted the 47 prefectures into three groups, depending on their economic strengths.
   It set the proposed hike at 63 yen for group A, which includes Tokyo and five other prefectures such as Osaka, and group B, consisting of 28 prefectures such as Hokkaido, Fukushima, Ishikawa and Hyogo.

(2025/08/05-00:46)

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