Annual pay for full-time company employees in 2004 averaged 4,388,000 yen, down 51,000 yen or 1.1 percent from the previous year for the seventh straight year of contraction, according to a survey by the National Tax Agency.
Salary and allowances averaged 3,701,000 yen, down 1.0 percent, and bonuses amounted to 687,000 yen on average, a decrease of 2.0 percent.
Although the economy is showing signs of a pickup, the survey results indicate companies have continued to curb pay, especially bonuses.
There were 44.53 million full-time company workers on payrolls last year, 27.52 million men and 17.01 million women. The number of male workers shrank 1.8 percent, while the number of female workers rose 2.3 percent.