Consensus outlook for Mace News
Friday, October 30, 2026
0830 JST (2330 GMT/1930 EDT Thursday, October 29) The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications releases September jobs.
Mace News median: 2.5% (range: 2.4% to 2.5%)vs. 2.5% in Aug, 2.4% in July, 2.5% in June, May and April, 2.7% in March and 2.6% in February.
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO (MaceNews) – Japan’s unemployment rate is expected to change little in September from the previous month. Resilient labor market conditions are expected to stay in place amid continuing firmness in the domestic economy, with hiring increasing in sectors such as healthcare and welfare, transportation and entertainment in recent months.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is forecast at 2.5% in September, unchanged from 2.5% in August. The labor market has remained on a solid footing, with the jobless rate fluctuating between 2.4% and 2.5% over the past five months.
The number of employed people stood at 68.49 million in August, up 140,000 from a year earlier, while the number of unemployed people fell 20,000 on the year to 1.80 million, marking the first decline in 13 months.
The jobless rate edged up in August as more people quit their jobs to seek better opportunities or began looking for work. The number of people who left their jobs due to layoffs or retirement rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% from the previous month, while the number of those who quit voluntarily gained 8.0%. The number of people who began job hunting increased 2.2%, indicating that more people entered the labor market to look for work.