KYODO (Tokyo) -- Japan's real wages fell 1.2 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the second straight month of decline, as the pace of price hikes driven by higher costs outpaced income growth, government data showed Monday.

Nominal wages, or the average total monthly cash earnings per worker, including base and overtime pay, increased 3.1 percent to 289,562 yen ($2,000), rising for the 38th consecutive month, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said in a preliminary report.

But consumer prices jumped 4.3 percent in the reporting month due largely to the resumption of government subsidies for utility bills, although the pace slowed from a 4.7 percent surge in January, according to the ministry.

A ministry official said whether the country's real, or inflation-adjusted, wages will turn positive depends on price developments, which have remained at high levels.

The report comes as domestic companies offered pay hikes averaging 5.42 percent in this year's annual labor talks, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation's interim survey showed, indicating a second straight year of rises exceeding 5 percent.

The results of the "shunto" spring wage negotiations will be reflected in data on real wages, a barometer of consumer purchasing power, from April, while the Bank of Japan has expressed eagerness to further tighten monetary policy to curb sharp inflation.

At workplaces with five or more employees, real wages slid for the 26th consecutive month through May 2024. Later in the year, they posted year-on-year climbs only in June, July, November and December, when bonuses were paid.

Real wages at workplaces with 30 or more employees, meanwhile, dropped 0.6 percent in February, marking the second straight monthly decrease, the ministry said.

Wage data has been closely watched as the government aims to encourage income hikes that surpass inflation to support consumer spending, a key driver of economic growth, with households grappling with rising prices of everyday goods such as rice.

The central bank has also been monitoring wage and price developments in determining the pace of interest rate hikes. In January, the BOJ lifted short-term interest rates to 0.5 percent, the highest level seen in 17 years, from about 0.25 percent.