Japan's real wages in February were down 1.3 percent from a year earlier, marking the 23rd consecutive month of decline, as salary increases failed to keep pace with inflation, government data showed Monday.
The pace of decline slightly accelerated from a revised 1.1 percent fall in January, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
Nominal wages, the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, climbed 1.8 percent to 282,265 yen, ($1,900), up for the 26th straight month.
Average base pay and other scheduled wages rose 2.0 percent to 277,479 yen, while overtime pay and other nonscheduled wages were down 1.0 percent at 19,160 yen, the data showed.
In this year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations, domestic firms agreed to wage increases averaging 5.24 percent, according to results of a survey released Thursday by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation.
