Japan December Unemployment Dips; Fewer Workers Quit To Look For Better Jobs

— Job Cuts on Year Linger in Industries Hit by Supply Delays, Covid Restrictions

— Japan 2021 Jobless Rate Stays at 2.8%, Pace of Job Cuts Decelerates

By Max Sato

(MaceNews) – The pandemic is keeping the recovery in the Japanese labor market slow as some sectors continued to trim payrolls from year-earlier levels, but the unemployment rate improved slightly in December, with fewer people quitting their jobs to look for better positions after doing so in November, data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

The seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate in Japan slipped back to 2.7% in December after rising to 2.8% in November from 2.7% in October, when it dipped from 2.8% in September. It was lower than the median economist forecast for 2.8%.

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.

For the whole of 2021, the national average unemployment rate stood at 2.8%, unchanged from 2020, as the pace of decrease in employment shrank. It was lower at 2.4% in 2019 and 2018, which was the recent bottom after falling steadily from 4.6% in 2011, when northeastern Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, which caused a Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

The number of employed rose 0.7% on the month to 66.73 million in December after being unchanged in November and falling 0.4% in October while the number of unemployed dipped 3.1% to 1.86 million after rising 5.5% in November and falling 3.7% in October. The number of people who left for other openings fell 10.5% after rising 8.6% the previous month while the number of those who lost their jobs or retired climbed 12.5% after being unchanged.

Compared to a year earlier, the number of employed fell just 70,000 to 66.59 million in December, posting the fourth straight drop after plunging 570,000 in November and falling 350,000 in October. Job cuts continued at construction firms, farming and forestry, manufacturers, hotels, restaurants and bars as well as in-person and entertainment service providers. 

The number of unemployed fell 230,000 on year to 1.71 million, marking the sixth straight month of decline after a decrease of 130,000 in November. Fewer people quit for personal reasons or lost their jobs, compared to a year earlier.  

The government’s view is that employment conditions are “picking up in some components such as job offers, while weakness remains due to the influence of the infectious disease,” according to its monthly economic report for January.