Japan Jobless Rate: Updated Dec. 11, 2023.

 

Japan's jobless rate unchanged at 2.7% in August

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230929/p2g/00m/0bu/024000c

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's unemployment rate stood at 2.7 percent in August, unchanged from the previous month, as a decline in the number of laid-off workers was offset by an increase in employees leaving jobs to seek higher pay and better working conditions.

The job availability ratio was unchanged from July at 1.29, indicating there were 129 job openings for every 100 job seekers, according to separate data.

Ideas:

Every economy is going to have  a large of laid-off workers and at the time a lot of workers who leave their jobs for other jobs.

A country's jobless rate is always in a fluid situation or always changing as there are always people looking for jobs, getting laid-off. along with companies deciding how many jobs to offer each week, each month.

There might be 129 jobs for every 100 job seekers, but what kinds of jobs are being offered. Are they jobs with good benefits. Are they jobs with good wages. Are they jobs with good a good work/life balance who benefit working women.

Article:

The number of people with jobs rose 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 67.5 million, while the number of unemployed people increased 0.5 percent to 1.85 million, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

People who left their jobs voluntarily grew a seasonally adjusted 8.1 percent from the previous month, while those who were dismissed or retired dropped 12.2 percent, the ministry said.

Ideas:

As the next paragraph shows, and economy is always changing such the number of people with jobs increased 0.1 percent and the number of unemployed also increased to 0.5 percent.

So an economy, the Japanese economy is always in  state of change such people who left their jobs voluntarily was 8.1 percent but jobs losses due to being dismissed and retired persons decreased by 12.2 percent.

The last percentage of 12.2 percent might indicate that the Japanese economy might be improving with less dismissals but at the same time, less people retiring and or continuing to work.

Article:

The number of unemployed woman fell 50,000 to 760,000, while that of men rose 50,000 to 1.09 million.

The number of workers in the retail and wholesale sector increased 2.1 percent from a year earlier to 10.55 million, while employees in the hotel and restaurant sector rose 4.1 percent to 4.05 million on an unadjusted basis.

Ideas:

More and more women are working in Japan, but at the same time, what kinds of jobs are women getting in Japan. Are they management level jobs or are they just service sector low-level paying jobs.

There are/were 1.09 million men without jobs in Japan. How many of these are voluntary and or how many are looking for work but can't find the kind of work they want or need.

The services sector suffered the most in job losses and lay-offs during the pandemic and the retail and wholesale sub-sectors had their share of jobs lost during the pandemic. 

The retail and wholesales subsector might just getting back to normal in the number of positions available, but at the same time, there are labor shortages in many sectors in Japan.

The hotel and restaurant sector too, had a lot of jobs losses during the pandemic, and they too might just be getting back to normal, but at the same time, many sectors as as the services sector has a labor shortage problem, and many of the workers who were laid-off didn't return and maybe they found new jobs.

Article:

In contrast, those working for finance and insurance firms fell 9.3 percent to 1.46 million. The number of employees in the real estate and leasing sector declined 9.6 percent to 1.32 million.

According to separate data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, job openings in the hotel and restaurant sector rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier, while those in the education sector grew 8.4 percent.

An official of the ministry said the labor market is continuing to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, citing worker shortages in multiple industries.

Ideas:

Unfortunately, the finance and insurance sectors, globally, and Japan too, might be going thorough a period of restructuring as maybe AI is beginning to cause some to lose their jobs as companies transition to AI type situations that don't require as many workers.

At the same time the hotel and restaurant sectors, for the most part, still require face to face work or employees to work as most of the work is customer relationship type important work.

As far as the education sector is concerned, despite a low birth-rate which means the number of teachers needed gets less and less, who is being hired to do what in the education sector. Is this private after-school academies or is this teachers in the regular school systems  in Japan.

Have a nice day and be safe!