Workers saw their wages increase faster than the cost of living in April for the first time in two years, as the impact of last year's sales-tax hike faded.

Real pay rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, the labor ministry said on Tuesday. Overall wages, including overtime and bonuses, climbed 0.9 percent, the most since December, as base pay rose for a second straight month.

The rise could boost hopes for a pickup in consumer spending, a major driver of the Japanese economy. It was nonetheless a marginal 0.1 percent, leaving it uncertain whether the trend would be sustained. The preliminary data also leaves room for a revision that could result in a contraction.