Japan’s job availability improves for ninth straight month in September

This comes as employers looked to hire in preparation for a rebound in inbound tourism as the pandemic-related daily arrival cap is removed.
By: | October 31, 2022
Topics: Japan | News | Recruitment

The job-to-applicant ratio rose 0.02 point from the previous month to 1.34, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said. The ratio means there were 134 job openings for every 100 job seekers.

Separate data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate in the reporting month rose 0.1 point to 2.6% from August, the first rise in four months. 

The increase in the unemployment rate reflects “people voluntarily leaving work for better working conditions. Another reason could be the abating coronavirus pandemic situation,” an official at the internal ministry said at a briefing. 

Japan’s economy has been recovering from the pandemic, with the borders reopened to individual foreign tourists amid receding worries about infections.

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“The easing of border control measures and the travel subsidy programme were some of the factors that led to the rise in the job-to-applicant ratio,” said Koya Miyamae, a senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Miyamae said the rising trend is likely to continue, noting, “As the novel coronavirus pandemic recedes, a recovery in economic activities leads to more shortages of workers,” reported The Mainichi.