Inflation-adjusted income grows 2.5 pct last year

The growth of inflation-adjusted income slowed to 2.5 percent in 2013 from 3.1 percent in the previous year, data showed Monday.

The average monthly wage per worker amounted to 3.11 million won (US$2,917) last year, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the labor ministry.

But the growth of real wage, calculated by the value of nominal wage set against the consumer price index, reached 2.5 percent in 2013, it said. In 2011, real income declined 2.9 percent.

In 2013, the Korean economy grew 3 percent on robust exports and improving domestic demand. But despite the recovery, such growth has not fully trickled down to low-income households.

Last year, consumer prices grew 1.3 percent, staying below the central bank's 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent inflation target band. (Yonhap)