–Number of Those Who Quit for Other Openings Also Rises
–Employment Up Y/Y for 12th Straight Month, Led by Medical Services, Hotels, Restaurants, Factories, Construction
–Number of Unemployed Marks 1st Y/Y Rise in 3 Months
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese payrolls posted their 12th straight growth on year in July as hospitals, hotels, restaurants, factories and construction firms continued to fill job vacancies as the economy continues reopening while the unemployment rate unexpectedly climbed to 2.7% from 2.5% in June as job cuts rose and more people began looking for work, data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
The government’s domestic travel discount program for residents and widely eased public health rules have been supporting the tourism industry and some retail stores.
Compared to the previous month, the number of people who lost their jobs or retired rose after being unchanged for two months while more people began looking for work after two months of decline and the number of those who quit to look for other openings marked the first rise in four months.
The unexpected uptick in the March jobless rate to 2.8% from February’s 2.6% was caused mainly by an increase in the number of people leaving to look for better positions. Some of those people found work in April, when the rate slipped back to 2.6%.
The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate stood at 2.7% in July, up from 2.5% in June, when it improved from 2.6% in May. It was higher than the median economist forecast of 2.5%. It is below 2.8% in March but is still above a three-year low of 2.4% hit in January. The jobless rate moved in tight ranges of 2.7% to 3.0% in 2021 and 2.5% to 2.8% in 2022.
The latest figure is below the recent high of 3.1% reached in October 2020 but is above 2.2% recorded in December 2019, just before the pandemic triggered a global economic slump.
In its monthly economic report for August released on Monday, the government maintained its overall assessment, saying the economy is recovering moderately as substantial wage hikes and Covid-era excess savings are supporting consumer spending while improving supply chains are shoring up business confidence and investment. It also maintained its view on employment conditions after upgrading it for the first time in 11 months in June, saying they are “showing signs of improvement.”
Regular wages among full-time workers have been rising steadily in the current fiscal year that began in April and are expected to rise further as more firms will reflect the results of spring labor-management negotiations. Summer bonuses are up further after a sharp gain last year and firms are raising hourly wages to secure workers.
Compared to a year earlier, the number of employed rose 170,000 to an unadjusted 67.72 million in July for the 12th straight increase after rising 260,000 in June, 150,000 in May, 140,000 in April, 150,000 in March and 90,000 in February and surging 430,000 in January.
The number of unemployed gained 70,000 on the year to an unadjusted 1.83 million in July for the first rise in three months after falling 70,000 in June and 30,000 in May, rising 20,000 in April, and marking its first year-over-year rise in 21 months in March with a 130,000 jump. It has drifted down from a pandemic peak of 2.17 million in October 2020 but is still above 1.60 million at the beginning of 2020.
The overall employment increase in July from a year earlier was led by a sharp rise in the medical and welfare category, which rebounded in June after falling in the previous four months. It was also due to continued solid gains in the manufacturing sector and the construction industry as well as the hotels, restaurants and bars category, which has been benefiting from government subsidies for domestic traveling, pent-up domestic demand and a fast-recovering inflow of foreign visitors.
Employment in the wholesale and retail industry accelerated while sharp drops were seen in the financial sector, transportation and telecommunications.
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Contact this reporter: max@macenews.com
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