5 Things You Missed This Week — Samsung, US Job Revisions, Japan's Real Wages

Japan's real wages have been positive in every month of 2026 through August's preliminary reading, while Korea's were negative in July, the latest month published. Over little more than a week, Korea, the US and Japan released a run of wage and price figures, and because each country measures them differently, they can't simply be set side by side. To those we've added the China National Day holiday numbers our last issue promised, plus Samsung Electronics' third-quarter results, in which its quarterly operating profit topped 100 trillion won for the first time (107.4 trillion won). Throughout, we separate figures we checked against primary documents from those we could confirm only through news reports.

1. When Will China's Golden Week Destination Numbers Arrive?

On October 7, PRISM checked the notice list on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's consular service website, where Beijing has urged its citizens to avoid travel to Japan since November 2025, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks in parliament about a Taiwan contingency. Four notices there carry "Japan" in the title, and none has been added since March 26 (based on list titles). In August, 418,000 Chinese visitors went to Japan (JNTO estimate) and 828,000 went to South Korea. The Korea figure is the one The Korea Economic Daily reported, citing Korea Tourism Statistics; PRISM couldn't access the original data. The ratio of roughly 2.0 is PRISM's own calculation, with that single report as the numerator, and while JNTO excludes permanent residents and aircraft crew, we couldn't confirm how the Korean count is defined.

On October 8, China's National Immigration Administration reported 15.46 million border crossings by Chinese and foreign travelers over the seven-day National Day holiday, including 4.44 million departures by mainland residents, up 9.3% from the same period last year. Our last issue said those figures would come out around October 8 and that we'd update our tourism story with them. But the release has no breakdown by destination, so Japan-bound travel won't show up until JNTO publishes its October estimate, a full-month total, on November 18.

2. Samsung's Q3 Operating Profit Hits 107.4 Trillion Won, Topping 100 Trillion for the First Time

Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter 2026 results, released on the morning of October 8, showed consolidated revenue of 195 trillion won and operating profit of 107.4 trillion won, the first time its quarterly operating profit has topped 100 trillion won. From the second quarter of 2026, revenue rose 13.70% and operating profit 20.01%; compared with the third quarter of 2025, they were up 126.59% and 782.50%, respectively. PRISM read the company's press release (but not the original DART regulatory filing); the figures are preliminary, and the release doesn't break them down by business division. Korean outlet Etoday calculated on October 8 that operating profit came in 0.71% above the FnGuide consensus and revenue 2.76% below it, without saying when that consensus was compiled. Reuters wrote that profit slightly beat the LSEG estimate. Taiwan's Economic Daily News wrote that it fell short of the analyst average of 108.7 trillion won (a translation of foreign reporting that didn't name who compiled the estimate). Consensus figures diverge depending on who compiles them and when. September exports, lifted by chips, were covered in our last issue.

3. US Adds 29,000 Jobs in September, With July Revised Into Negative Territory

Total nonfarm payroll employment "changed little in September (+29,000)," the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on October 2, below the average monthly gain of 45,000 over the prior 12 months. The unemployment rate was 4.2%. In the same release, July was revised from +21,000 to -10,000, and with August included, employment over the two months came in 60,000 lower than previously reported. Average hourly earnings were $37.81 in September, up 3.0% from a year earlier. The Fed raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% on September 16, its first hike since July 2023 (central banks moving in different directions).

Sponsored

Advertise with Us

[email protected]

Sponsored

Semafor wrote that the number fell far short of economists' expectations. FXStreet interpreted it through a Dallas Fed analysis suggesting that, with immigration down, the job growth needed to hold the unemployment rate steady is close to zero. PRISM couldn't verify the original research behind that analysis.

4. Japan's Real Wages Rise for an Eighth Straight Month This Year

In preliminary August results from its Monthly Labour Survey, released on October 7, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare put total cash earnings per worker at businesses with five or more employees at 311,364 yen, up 3.8% from a year earlier. Real wages, deflated by a consumer price index that excludes imputed rent on owner-occupied housing, rose 1.5%, keeping up a positive reading every month since January 2026. August's numbers are preliminary and may change when finalized.

Scheduled earnings, which are regular pay minus overtime, rose 3.8%, while special earnings such as bonuses were flat from a year earlier. On a common-establishment basis, which strips out the effect of rotating the survey sample, total cash earnings rose 2.8% and scheduled earnings 3.1%. Reading the increase as driven by scheduled earnings is PRISM's interpretation, and on the common-establishment basis that gain is also smaller than the headline.

5. Korea's September Inflation Hits 2.9%, and Crude Oil for November

Korea's consumer prices rose 2.9% from a year earlier in September, according to figures released on October 2 by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the national statistics agency formerly known as Statistics Korea, and core inflation excluding food and energy was 2.8%. Petroleum product prices rose 14.8%, contributing 0.56 percentage point to overall inflation. We confirmed the petroleum price increase through multiple news reports and its contribution through a single report from Asia Business Daily, and PRISM didn't see the agency's original release. The government estimated that without its price ceiling on petroleum products, September inflation would have been 3.5% (as reported by broadcaster YTN).

At a Cabinet meeting on October 6, Huh Jang, second vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, reported that Korea had secured crude oil equal to 100% of last year's level for October and 80% for November (The Financial News). PRISM couldn't verify the government's original text, and the report doesn't say whether "secured" means contracted volumes or oil actually delivered.

What to Watch in the Next Two Weeks

On October 13, we'll publish a document-by-document look at the US-China Busan agreement, the trade truce whose one-year measures are due to expire on November 10. When September consumer prices and real earnings come out together at 8:30 a.m. ET on October 14, the blank in this issue's Insight for US September real wages will be filled. RISC-V Summit China, running October 18 to 20, will be covered in our semiconductor series.

According to news reports, the National Assembly will audit Korea Gas Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation on October 19. It's worth watching whether Alaska LNG, which appears in the documents behind Korea's $200 billion US investment pledge, comes up in questioning. When JNTO's September estimate comes out on October 21, we'll extend the tables in our tourism story to cover January through September, with the main update on November 18.