TOKYO, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's inflation-adjusted real wages rose 1.6 percent in June from a year earlier, extending gains for a sixth consecutive month, government data showed Wednesday.
The increase matched the upwardly revised 1.6 percent growth in May and came as the inflation index used to calculate real wages edged up to 1.9 percent in June from 1.7 percent in the previous month.
Nominal wages, or the average monthly cash earnings per worker including base salary and overtime pay, climbed 3.4 percent from a year earlier to 531,677 yen (about 3,370 U.S. dollars), marking the fifth straight month in which growth exceeded 3 percent, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The yen's recent sharp fall has driven up import costs, but government measures to keep gasoline and other energy prices in check have helped hold Japan's consumer inflation below 2 percent, allowing real wages to remain in positive territory.
However, economic analysts cautioned that inflationary pressures are likely to intensify later this year in resource-scarce Japan, as more businesses are expected to pass higher raw material and labor costs on to consumers. ■