Tokyo, May 09 (QNA) - Japan's real wages in March decreased for the 24th consecutive month, the longest decline since comparable data became available in 1991, falling 2.5 percent from the same month a year earlier, government data showed Thursday.

Nominal wages, the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, grew 0.6 percent to 301,193 yen (USD 1,940), up for the 27th straight month, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The consumer price index, used to calculate real wages, climbed 3.1 percent in the reporting month, far surpassing the 0.6 percent gain in nominal wages, according to Japan's News Agency (KYODO).
By sector, monthly pay in services related to people's daily lives saw the largest increase of 5.4 percent, while the mining and quarrying sector saw the sharpest fall of 11.6 percent.

Excluding bonuses and nonscheduled payments, average wages rose 1.5 percent to 279,234 yen, while overtime and other allowances were down 1.5 percent at 19,703 yen, the data showed.

The average monthly nominal wages of full-time workers grew 0.8 percent to 386,795 yen, while those of part-time workers increased 2.5 percent to 108,036 yen.

Total working hours per worker fell 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 136.2.

(QNA)