October 2, Tokyo (RASRAS/Xinhua) – Japan’s unemployment rate in August reached 2.5 percent, up from 2.4 percent in July, marking the first increase in five months according to government data. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that the number of employed persons seasonally adjusted rose by 30,000 from the previous month to 8.34 million.
Among those separated from work, 810,000 voluntarily left their jobs. The number of people actively seeking better employment increased by 8 percent compared to July. Meanwhile, the number of people laid off by employers rose 5.3 percent to 400,000. The ministry also noted that the number of new job seekers grew by 2.2 percent to 460,000. Separate data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicated that the job availability ratio remained steady at 1.18 in August, meaning there were 118 job openings for every 100 job seekers.
By industry, employment opportunities declined in eight out of eleven sectors. The accommodation and restaurant services sector saw an 11.1 percent decrease in job openings, while the wholesale and retail trade sector experienced a 10.2 percent drop. Conversely, employment opportunities increased by 3.9 percent in the manufacturing sector and 3.3 percent in the information and communications sector, according to the ministry.
