Japan's real wages fell 2.9 percent in March from a year earlier, declining for the 12th straight month, affected by rising inflation that led to households tightening their purse strings, government data showed Tuesday.
The drop in inflation-adjusted wages comes as higher food, energy and other prices impacted by Russia's war in Ukraine have outpaced pay hikes. The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called on businesses to raise wages in line with inflation and help sustain the economy.
Nominal wages, or the average total cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, rose 0.8 percent to 291,081 yen ($2,100), up for the 15th consecutive month, but with the pace of rise limited to less than 1 percent for the third month in a row, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Separate data showed that the nation's household spending fell 1.9 percent in March from a year before, following a 1.6 percent rise in February.
Households with two or more people spent an average of 312,758 yen, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
The data is a key indicator of private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the country's gross domestic product.
