Japan jobless rate rises to 2.5% in August, 1st deterioration in 5 months
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's unemployment rate in August rose to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent in the previous month, deteriorating for the first time in five months, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Friday.
The number of people with jobs increased 30,000 from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 68.34 million, the ministry said.
Of those not in work, 810,000 left their jobs voluntarily, likely in search of better working conditions, up 8.0 percent from July, while 400,000 were dismissed, rising 5.3 percent from the previous month.
The number of people newly seeking jobs grew 2.2 percent to 460,000, according to the ministry.
"The job market is not in bad shape," a ministry official said, noting that more people quit to seek better opportunities than for other reasons.
"The increase in voluntary job departures appears to have been the main driver of the latest rise in the unemployment rate," he said.
Over the past two years, the unemployment rate has always rebounded the month after falling to 2.4 percent or lower.
The job availability ratio was unchanged from July at 1.18, meaning there were 118 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, according to separate data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Eight of the 11 sectors saw declines, led by accommodation and restaurant services with an 11.1 percent drop, followed by a 10.2 percent decrease in wholesale and retail, the labor ministry said.
Among the three sectors that recorded more job openings, manufacturing saw a 3.9 percent rise, while information and communications was up 3.3 percent.
Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20261002/p2g/00m/0bu/020000c
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