A Japanese labor ministry panel is in the final stages of coordination to agree on raising the country's weighted average minimum hourly wage to 1,000 yen or higher for the first time ever, informed sources said Thursday. The subcommittee of the Central Minimum Wages Council will resume talks on Friday morning and seek to reach an accord on the matter within the day, according to the sources. In the subcommittee, the labor and management sides have agreed on the need to raise minimum wages in response to rising prices. In fiscal 2022, which ended in March, the nationwide weighted average of minimum hourly wages was ... (full story)