Japanese paychecks beat inflation for the eighth month in a row

Japan's workers just got their eighth straight month of good news. Real wages rose 1.5% in August from a year earlier, government data showed October 7, extending a run that has survived the country's long fight with rising prices. Average monthly pay reached 311,364 yen (about $1,970), with base salaries up 3.8% — and the inflation used in the calculation holding at 2.2%, well below last year's 3.1%. Eight months is no fluke; it is the start of the wage-price cycle Japan's central bank has chased for years — and ordinary pay packets are finally feeling it.