S. Korea's real wage falls for 2nd month in May

　　SEOUL, July 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's real wage, adjusted for inflation, fell for a second successive month in May amid faster inflation, labor ministry data showed Thursday.

　　The per-capita nominal monthly average wage in businesses with one or more regular employees gained 1.7 percent from a year earlier to 3,982,000 won (2,764 U.S. dollars) in May, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

　　The real monthly wage declined 1.4 percent year-over-year in May, after sliding 1.0 percent in the previous month.

　　The consumer price inflation advanced from 2.0 percent in January to 2.2 percent in March and 3.1 percent in May, hovering above the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2.0 percent.

　　The monthly average working hours per employee in the businesses went down 4.9 percent to 139.8 hours in May compared to the same month of last year.

　　The water supply, sewage, waste management and materials recovery industry logged the longest monthly working hours of 155.7, followed by the manufacturing sector with 154.3 hours.

　　The construction industry recorded the shortest working hours of 117.3 in the cited month. ■