-Fewer People Quit for Other Openings or Begin Looking for Work on Month, Offsetting Impact of More Job Losses, Retirements
–Employment Posts 6th Y/Y Straight Gain, Let by Hotels, Restaurants, Medical Services
–Number of Unemployed Marks 19th Straight Y/Y Drop
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese payrolls posted their sixth straight year-over-year growth in January as the tourism industry continued hiring workers and construction firms tried to catch up, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly eased to a three-year low of 2.4% on stronger job creation, down from 2.5% in the previous two months and 2.6% in October, data released Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
Compared to the previous month, fewer people quit their jobs to look for other openings or began looking for work, which more than offset the impact of an increase in the number of people either lost their positions or retired at the start of the year.
The government has resumed its domestic travel discount program on a smaller scale after a brief suspension during the yearend and New Year holidays. It lifted most of its Covid border restrictions in October to allow more visitors from overseas, which has been supporting hotels and retail stores.
There are expectations that economic activity will pick up further in months ahead as the recent spike in new Covid cases appears to have peaked.
The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate stood at 2.4% in January, lower than the median economist forecast of 2.5% (forecasts ranged from 2.5% to 2.6%). It is the lowest since 2.4% in February 2020. The jobless rate fell to 2.5% in November from 2.6% in October and September, when it rose from 2.5% in August. The current level is an improvement from 2.8% at the start of 2022. The monthly 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% hit in October 2020 but still above 2.2% recorded in December 2019, just before the pandemic triggered a global slump.
In its monthly economic report released last week, the government maintained its assessment that employment conditions as “picking up.”
The number of employed stood at a seasonally adjusted 67.44 million in January, up 180,000 (0.3%) on the month after rising 90,000 in December and falling 140,000 in November. The number of unemployed fell 40,000 (2.3%) in January to an adjusted 1.67 million after falling 20,000 the previous month.
The number of people who left, looking for other openings fell 20,000 (2.9%) in January after dipping 10,000 in December while the number of those who lost their jobs or retired increased 30,000 (7.7%) after falling 30,000 the previous month. The number of people who began looking for work fell 20,000 (4.3%) after rising 30,000 previously.
Compared to a year earlier, the number of employed jumped 430,000, to an unadjusted 66.89 million in January for the sixth straight increase after rising 100,000 in December and posting sharp gains of 280,000 in November, 500,000 in October and 400,000 in September.
The number of unemployed fell 210,000 on the year to an unadjusted 1.64 million in January, marking the 19th straight month of year-over-year decline after falling 150,000 the previous month. It has drifted down from a pandemic peak of 2.17 million in October 2020 and is just above 1.60 million at the beginning of 2020.
As seen in recent months, the overall employment increase in January from a year earlier was led by hotels, restaurants and bars, a category which posted the seventh straight year-over-year gain, with the pace of increase picking up after slowing the previous month.
Employment also increased among information and telecommunications service providers as well as in the medical and welfare category after falling on the year in December.
Jobs in the wholesale and retail industry dropped on the year for the second straight month after being flat in November and posting months of decline earlier. Employment at construction firms posted the fourth straight month of increase in December. Manufacturing jobs dipped for the second month in a row after recent improvement.
Contact this reporter: max@macenews.com
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