Japan's Job Availability:

 Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230131/p2g/00m/0bu/013000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's average job availability in 2022 improved for the first time in four years as economic and social activities revived with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, government data showed Tuesday.

The job-to-applicant ratio rose 0.15 point from the previous year to 1.28, thanks to a stronger hospitality sector, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said. The figure has yet to reach the pre-pandemic level of 1.6 in 2019, indicating that a full recovery will take time.

The ratio means there were 128 job openings for every 100 job seekers.

Ideas:

It might take time for a full recovery but overall Japan still has a very good figure compared to other countries.

Even at 1.28 its still very good and many countries would like to see their numbers like Japan's numbers.

As many sectors, such as the services sector continue to add jobs it will continue to increase over time.

But it has to be remembered that many jobs, now in Japan are contract and part-time as is common in many advanced countries.

Article:

The pandemic pushed down the ratio to 1.18 in 2020 and 1.13 in the following year.

"There was a noticeable recovery, mainly among accommodation and restaurant businesses, which had been struggling due to the spread of COVID-19," a ministry official said.

"While difficulty is seen in some parts of the labor sector, such as with some industries experiencing a slow recovery in job openings, there is a mild recovery (in the situation)," labor minister Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference.

Ideas:

The accommodation and restaurant sectors were hit hardest during the pandemic and it might take time for those sectors to hire workers again and probably many former workers have found new jobs and moved on and or don't want to work in those areas again.

After a recent trip to Yokohama and staying in a hotel for 5 days days that particular hotel was full each night, but maybe that specific hotel chain had no problems with vacancies or workers.

Other chains might be experiencing staff challenges and or as usual market challenges related to competition in the hotel industry.

Article:

Japan is in the midst of its eighth wave of infections, but the government has decided to downgrade COVID-19 in May to the same category as seasonal influenza and other common infectious diseases, a move that is hoped will further fuel the economy.

October's relaxation of rules regarding the entry of tourists to Japan pushed foreign arrivals up, while the government's domestic tourism subsidy program has aided the hospitality sector.

December's job availability ratio was 1.35, unchanged from the previous month, and the number of job offers from a year before was up 4.8 percent.

Ideas:

Most advanced economies have moved on from the pandemic even though there are increases here or there and the idea that for most people it being just like the flu is probably correct even though some unfortunate people still suffer from the pandemic.

Its good that Japan finally opened its economy, and its good in May that it will downgrade the pandemic to just like the flu.

Japan can't grow on domestic tourism only as its become too dependent on international tourism such as the growing middle classes of most Asian countries.

Article:

Among the industries, lifestyle and entertainment sectors saw the sharpest rise in job offers at 18.5 percent, followed by the accommodation and restaurant services at 6.9 percent, both from a year earlier.

In contrast, employment offers in the construction sector decreased by 6.2 percent, while manufacturing had a slight fall at 0.1 percent.

Separate data released the same day by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed the country's unemployment rate in 2022 also saw a recovery for the first time in four years, dipping by 0.2 point from the year before to 2.6 percent.

Ideas:

An economy never grows in a linear fashion as there are always some sectors that improve, some sectors that remain stagnant or flat and some sectors that decline each each month, each quarter or each year.

Most like, for example the construction sector just might be a low period of the year as companies might start new construction projects just a few times a year.

A 0.1 percent decline in the manufacturing sector should not be a big deal as the margin of error is not that big statistically

Even at 0.2 percent for unemployment is not that much as there are many factors related to why unemployment might or might not have increased or decreased.

Article:

In 2019, the jobless rate stood at 2.4 percent, but it worsened to 2.8 percent in 2020 and 2021.

The number of unemployed people stood at 1.79 million in 2022.

December's unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month at 2.5 percent, data showed.

Ideas:

An economy can never have 0 percent unemployment as there are always going to be situations of people changing jobs, companies laying off workers, people leaving the workforce for an number of reasons.

Even at 2.4 or 2.8 percent Japan is still better off that most economies.

But again how many good jobs are really being added to the economy, as many jobs are now contract or even part-time.

Article:

The number of unemployed people in December dropped by 20,000 from the previous month to 1.71 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. Of those, 690,000 voluntarily left their jobs, down 2.8 percent from the previous month, while 390,000 were laid off, down 7.1 percent.

The number of workers in the lifestyle and entertainment services sectors fell 0.4 percent from a year earlier to 2.22 million people working on an unadjusted basis.

Meanwhile, workers in the accommodation and restaurant sector rose 2.9 percent from a year before to 3.96 million.

Ideas:

Of the 690,00 who voluntarily left their jobs was because of lack of job satisfaction,was for another job etc. 

Of the 390,000 were laid off was it because it because of market challenges, companies not doing too good or other reasons. 

Perhaps the reason for the decrease of 0.4 percent in the entertainment services sector that maybe they over hired earlier and now they don't need so many workers.

The accommodation and restaurant sector of course saw an increase as more customers were using hotels and restaurants again after the end of the pandemic.

Have a nice day and be safe!