SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's real wage, adjusted for inflation, rose for the second straight month amid a continued increase in nominal wage, labor ministry data showed Thursday.
The per-capita nominal monthly average wage in businesses with one or more regular employees gained 4.1 percent from a year earlier to 3.955 million won (about 2,774 U.S. dollars) in November 2025, keeping an upward trend since August last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The real monthly wage grew 1.6 percent in November on a yearly basis, slower than an expansion of 4.7 percent in the previous month.
The consumer price inflation hovered around the central bank's inflation target of 2 percent in recent months, with 2.1 percent in July, 2.1 percent in September and 2.4 percent in November.
The monthly average working hours per employee in the businesses dipped 3.8 percent to 153.2 hours in November compared to the same month of 2024.
The water supply, sewage and waste management, and materials recovery industry recorded the longest monthly working hours of 168.9, followed by the manufacturing sector with 168.5 hours.
The construction industry logged the shortest working hours of 129.7 in the cited month. ■