TOKYO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Japan's average monthly wages in inflation-adjusted terms logged the 24th straight month of decline in March, marking the longest period of continuous wage decline since comparable statistics began in 1991, official data showed on Thursday.

Inflation-adjusted real wages, a barometer of consumer purchasing power, fell 2.5 percent from the same month last year, larger than the 1.8 percent fall in February, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Nominal monthly earnings, including base pay and overtime, rose 0.6 percent from a year ago to reach 301,193 yen (about 1,932.5 U.S. dollars).

Regular pay including basic salary in March went up 1.7 percent year on year, while overtime pay, a gauge of business activity, went down 1.5 percent.

Special payment including bonuses fell 9.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index excluding imputed rent, used to calculate the real wage index, grew 3.1 percent year on year, the preliminary data showed.

Analysts here noted that with prices at historically high levels and real wages falling for the past two years, people's lives are becoming increasingly tight and the recovery of personal consumption spending may take longer than expected. Enditem

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