–Numbers of Lost Jobs, People Looking for Other Openings Both Drop in June
–June Unemployment at 2.6% After Ticking Up from April’s 2-Year Low 2.5%
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese payrolls posted the third straight increase from year-earlier levels in June as Covid restrictions were eased in late March, while the unemployment rate was unchanged after edging up in May from a two-year low in April, data released Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate stood at 2.6% in June after rising to the level in May and falling to 2.5% in April, which was the lowest since 2.4% in February 2020. It compares with 2.6% in March, 2.7% in February and 2.8% in January. It was higher than the median economist forecast for 2.5%. The jobless rate moved in a tight range of 2.7% to 3.0% last year.
The latest figure was below the recent high of 3.1% hit in October 2020 but still well above 2.2% recorded in December 2019, just before the pandemic triggered a global slump.
The number of employed stood at a seasonally adjusted 67.36 million in June, up 120,000 (+0.2%) from May, when it fell 140,000 (-0.2%) on the month. The number of unemployed was unchanged at an adjusted 1.8 million after rising 40,000 (+2.3%) the previous month.
The number of people who left for other openings fell 60,000 (-7.6%) in June after rising 60,000 (+8.2%) while the number of those who lost their jobs or retired also dipped 20,000 (-4.2%) after rising 50,000 (+11.6%) the previous month. The number of people who began looking for work slipped 10,000 (-2.2%) after being unchanged for the previous two months.
Compared to a year earlier, the number of employed rose 210,000 to an unadjusted 67.59 million in June, after rising 170,000 in May and climbing 240,000 in April, which was the first rise in seven months. The number of unemployed fell 210,000 on the year to an unadjusted 1.86 million in June, marking the 12th straight month of decline after a decrease of 220,000 the previous month.
The job growth was led by the medical/welfare sector and information and telecommunications service providers as well as the real-estate and leasing category, as seen in the previous month. Hotels, restaurants and bars hired fewer workers, compared to a year earlier, after expanding their workforces in April.
Manufacturers trimmed their workforces for the third straight month in light of uncertainty over global growth and despite some easing in supply bottlenecks. Construction firms also saw a smaller number of employed for the fourth straight month amid surging producer prices and material shortages.
The wholesale and retail industry continued to shed workers from a year earlier at a high pace while the personal services and leisure category resumed hiring in June after the government ended strict public healthy rules in late March.
Japan’s government Tuesday upgraded its economic overview for the first time in three months in July as consumption is on a clearer pickup path, led by job creation and pent-up demand, but real wages are falling amid rising inflation and the weaker yen is eroding purchasing power, according to its monthly report released by the Cabinet Office. The government also added financial market gyrations amid credit tightening by many central banks to the list of downside risks to a steady recovery from the pandemic-triggered slump.
In the report, the government revised up its assessment on employment conditions for the first time in two months, saying they are “picking up,” compared to its previous view that they were “showing signs of a pickup.”