Japan's real wages in April fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier for the 25th straight month of decline, the longest since comparable data became available in 1991, government data showed Wednesday.
The fall comes as real wage growth failed to keep pace with rising prices caused by higher raw material costs, shrinking households' purchasing power.
But inflation-adjusted wages improved compared with March, when they fell by 2.1 percent, due to the impact of the "shunto" spring wage negotiations on pay increases.
Nominal wages, the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including base and overtime pay, grew 2.1 percent to 296,884 yen ($1,910), up for the 28th consecutive month, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
