Japanese government data indicated today, Monday, that real wages in the country fell by 1.8 percent in January, compared to the previous year, the first decline in three months, due to rising food and gasoline prices.

The Japanese news agency "Kyodo" quoted the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as saying that nominal wages, or the average total monthly cash earnings per worker including basic wages and overtime pay, rose by 2.8 percent to 295,505 yen ($2,000) in workplaces with five or more employees, rising for the thirty-seventh consecutive month.

But the rise in nominal wages was still faster than the 4.7 percent increase in consumer prices, which are used in payroll data, in the reporting month, according to the Labor Department.

Slashed government subsidies to curb gas prices and higher prices for rice and fresh vegetables contributed to the inflationary surge.

At workplaces with five or more employees, real wages, or inflation-adjusted wages, a measure of consumer purchasing power, fell for the 26th straight month through May 2024, and later in 2024, they increased on an annual basis only when bonuses were paid in June, July, November and December.

At workplaces with 30 or more employees, real wages fell 0.7 percent in January from a year earlier, declining for the first time in five months.