SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's real wages, adjusted for inflation, fell for a fourth straight month amid lingering inflationary pressure, labor ministry data showed Wednesday.
The average nominal monthly wage per worker in businesses with one or more regular employees stood at 4,316,000 won (about 3,180 U.S. dollars) in July, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The inflation-adjusted real monthly wage fell 0.3 percent year-on-year in July, after sliding 1.0 percent in April, 1.4 percent in May and 0.1 percent in June.
Consumer price inflation continued to outpace nominal wage growth, further squeezing the purchasing power of domestic workers.
Although consumer inflation slowed down to 2.8 percent in July from 3.2 percent in June, it hovered above the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2.0 percent.
The average monthly wage for regular employees climbed 3.4 percent from a year earlier to 4,633,000 won in July, but wages for temporary and daily laborers shrank 2.6 percent to 1,736,000 won. ■
