Japan PM Kishida urges companies to raise wages by 3% or more

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday urged companies whose earnings have recovered pre-pandemic levels to raise wages by 3% or more at their labour talks next spring as he aims to achieve a virtuous cycle of growth and wealth distribution.

Kishida told his "new capitalism" panel meeting that the government would help take steps to encourage companies to reverse the recent trend of smaller wage increases.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)