The income of Japanese workers' households fell 3.3 percent in March for the sixth consecutive month of decline despite reported pay raises at big companies, the government said Friday. The average income stood at 438,145 yen (4,281 dollars), dpa quoted the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications as saying. Wages in nominal terms had risen from March 2013 to February 2014, but the rate of price increase was higher than that of rising income, a ministry official said. In March, wages in nominal terms were also down in part because overtime work was reduced due to snow in many parts of the country in the previous month, the official said. Consumer prices rose 1.3 per cent in March from a year earlier, for the tenth consecutive month of increase, the ministry said. Tokyo raised sales tax for the first time in 17 years, to 8 percent in April from 5 per cent and the rate will be lifted again to 10 percent in October 2015. Meanwhile, the average of monthly consumption expenditures per household for March jumped 7.2 percent from a year earlier, ahead of the tax hike, the steepest increase in 39 years, the ministry said.
