SEOUL: (Bernama-Xinhua) South Korea's real wage, adjusted for inflation, rose for the third straight month amid a continued increase in nominal wage, Xinhua reported based on labour ministry data on Thursday (Feb 26).
The per-capita nominal monthly average wage in businesses with one or more regular employees gained 3.1 per cent from a year earlier to 4,750,000 won (about US$3,340) in December 2025, keeping an upward trend since August last year, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labour.
The real monthly wage grew 0.7 per cent in December on a yearly basis, slower than an expansion of 1.6 per cent in the previous month.
The headline inflation hovered around the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2.0 per cent in recent months, with 1.7 per cent in August, 2.4 per cent in October and 2.3 per cent in December.
The monthly average working hours per employee in the businesses swelled 3.4 per cent to 163.2 hours in December compared to the same month of 2024.
The manufacturing industry recorded the longest monthly working hours of 178.8, followed by the water supply, sewage and waste management, and materials recovery sector with 178.0 hours.
The construction industry logged the shortest working hours of 136.2 in the cited month. - Bernama-Xinhua
