–More People Quit on Month to Seek Other Openings but Number of People Who Start Looking for Work Falls Faster
–Employment Growth Posts 4th Y/Y Straight Gain, Let by Hotels, Restaurants
–Unemployed Marks 17th Straight Y/Y Drop; Still Above January 2020 Level
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese payrolls posted their fourth straight year-on-year growth in November as the tourism industry continued hiring to meet recovering demand, with improvement spreading to manufacturing and construction, while the unemployment rate edged down to 2.5% from 2.6% in October as fewer people began looking for work, data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
The government lifted most of its Covid border restrictions in October to allow more visitors from overseas, which is supporting hotels and retail stores particularly when the relatively weak yen is raising the purchasing power of foreign tourists. The government also launched a new subsidy program in October to provide large discounts on domestic traveling.
Looking ahead, however, the eighth wave of the pandemic is causing a resurgence in the numbers of Covid infections and deaths, hurting consumer and business confidence.
The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate stood at 2.5% in November, in line with the median economist forecast of 2.5% (forecasts ranged from 2.5% to 2.6%). It stood at 2.6% in October and September, when it rose from 2.5% in August. The current level is a slight improvement from 2.8% at the start of 2022. August’s rate matched 2.5% in April, which was the lowest since 2.4% in February 2020. The jobless rate moved in tight ranges of 2.7% to 3.0% in 2021, and 2.5% to 2.8% so far in 2022.
The latest figure is below the recent high of 3.1% hit in October 2020 but still above 2.2% recorded in December 2019, just before the pandemic triggered a global slump.
The number of employed stood at a seasonally adjusted 67.16 million in November, down 230,000 (0.3%) from October, when it fell 70,000 (0.1%) on the month. The number of unemployed fell 50,000 (2.8%) to an adjusted 1.73 million after falling 50,000 (2.7%) the previous month.
The number of people who left for other openings rose 60,000 (9.2%) in November after sliding 80,000 (11.0%) in October while the number of those who lost their jobs or retired increased 10,000 (2.4%) after dropping 20,000 (4.7%) the previous month. The number of people who began looking for work slumped 80,000 (15.4%) after rising 20,000 (4.0%) previously.
Compared to a year earlier, the number of employed rose 280,000, to an unadjusted 67.24 million in November for the fourth straight increase after posting sharp gains of 500,000 in October and 400,000 in September.
The number of unemployed fell a sharp 180,000 on the year to an unadjusted 1.65 million in November, marking the 17th straight month of decline after a decrease of 60,000 the previous month. 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 government sees employment conditions as “picking up.” Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly said the bank would not consider raising interest rates while inflation is not accompanied by solid wage growth and supply continues to exceed demand in the Japanese economy. The BOJ board has projected inflation is unlikely to be anchored around its 2 percent target at least for the next few years, with its update coming in January.
As seen in the previous month, the overall employment increase in November from a year earlier was led by hotels, restaurants and bars, a category which posted the fifth straight year-over-year gain. People have been eating out and traveling without strict public health rules despite reports that Japan entered the eighth wave of the pandemic in November.
After solid gains, the pace of hiring slowed sharply among information and telecommunications service providers as well as the medical and welfare category.
Job creation in the wholesale and retail industry was flat after months of decline while employment at construction firms posted a second straight month of increase on the year in November after months of decrease. Manufacturing jobs marked the third straight month of year-over-year gain.