tokyo april 7 reuters  japans real wages fell in february for an eleventh month labour ministry data showed on friday although the rate of the decrease slowed thanks to government energy subsidies aimed at curbing consumer inflation while major japanese firms concluded annual labour talks with the largest pay rises in about three decades higher prices have demoralised consumers as the worlds thirdlargest economy faces uncertainty from a global slowdown and a new central bank chief inflationadjusted real wages a gauge of households purchasing power dropped by 26 in february from a year earlier following a 41 fall in january that marked the fastest decline in nearly nine years total cash earnings or nominal wages posted a 11 yearonyear gain in february faster than a 08 growth in january yet the nominal pay growth fell short of the 39 consumer inflation rate used to calculate pay in real terms which includes fresh food but excludes owners equivalent rent although the pace of inflation cooled from 51 in january due to the effect of government subsidies to curb utility bills overtime pay a gauge of business activity rose 17 yearonyear in february after a revised 05 growth the previous month special payments fell for a second month by 17 in february after a revised 13 drop the previous month the indicator tends to be volatile in months outside the twiceayear bonus seasons of november to january and june to august the following table shows preliminary data for monthly incomes and number of workers in february the ministry defines workers as 1 those employed for more than one month at a company that employed more than five people or 2 those employed on a daily basis or had less than a onemonth contract but had worked more than 18 days during the two months before the survey was conducted at a company that employs more than five people to view the full tables see the labour ministrys website at httpwwwmhlwgojpenglishdatabasedblindexhtml