Most of the nation's leading automakers and electronics firms have agreed to raise base wages and bonuses for their employees for the second consecutive year on the strength of improved earnings. But the wage raises are lower than the amounts demanded by the labor unions, and the difference in the margin of wage raises between companies with good business performances and those without has sharpened.

Although the overall wage hike offers are lower than demanded by labor, the fact that base wages in major firms have risen for two straight years is encouraging, since the outcome of the spring wage negotiations by those firms and their labor unions set the trend for negotiations in other sectors. But the question remains as to whether the raises are sufficient enough to spur aggregate personal consumption, thus putting the economy on a solid path of growth.

Among the carmakers, Honda Motor Co. has agreed to a 900 yen raise in basic monthly pay, 300 yen higher than last year but short of the 1,000 yen demanded by its union. Mazda Motor Corp., which offered no wage raises last year, has agreed to increase its basic wage by 700 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's top automaker, has agreed to a basic wage increase of 1,000 yen, the same as last year and lower than the union's demand for a 1,500 yen raise.