Japan real wages down for 25th month in row

TOKYO ― Japan's inflation-adjusted real wages fell in April from a year earlier but slowed the pace of decline as the Bank of Japan looks for early signs of achieving a positive cycle of rising wages and inflation that would allow it to lift interest rates.

Labor ministry data out on Wednesday showed real wages fell 0.7 percent year on year in April, extending a record streak of 25 consecutive monthly declines as higher living costs outweighed pay raises. But it was a slower pace of decline than the preceding month's 2.1-percent drop.