TOKYO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Japan"s real wages rose for the second consecutive month in August, largely due to a base effect, a welcome sign for the new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who has pledged to boost pay . Inflation-adjusted real wages, a barometer of households" purchasing power, grew 0.2% in August compared with the same month a year earlier, the labour ministry said on Friday. The increase followed a downwardly revised 0.3% gain in the prior month, while an accelerating uptick in consumer prices due to energy cost inflation reduced the growth margin. Nominal total cash earnings gained 0.7% in August from a year earlier, up for the sixth straight month. The gains reflected drops in August 2020, when real wages shrank 1.4% and nominal wages shed 1.3%. Regular pay - or base salary, which makes up most of total cash earnings and determines a wage trend - rose for the eighth straight month, gaining 0.2%. Overtime pay, a barometer of strength in corporate activity, grew 6.5% year-on-year in August. But the pace of growth slowed from double-digit figures in previous three months, due in part to smaller statistical base effects from a year earlier, a government official said. Special payments rose 2.0% in August. The following table shows preliminary data for monthly incomes and numbers of workers in August: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Payments (amount) (yr/yr % change) Total cash earnings 274,987 yen ($2,467.36) +0.7 -Monthly wage 262,221 yen +0.6 -Regular pay 244,437 yen +0.2 -Overtime pay 17,784 yen +6.5 -Special payments 12,766 yen +2.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Number of workers (million) (yr/yr % change) Overall 52.035 mln +1.3 -General employees 35.781 mln +0.7 -Part-time employees 16.255 mln +2.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The ministry defines "workers" as 1) those who were employed for more than one month at a company that employed more than five people, or 2) those who were employed on a daily basis or had less than a one-month 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 ministry"s website at: here ($1 = 111.4500 yen) (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya. Editing by Jane Merriman) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.