ZCZC
BCN-03
JAPAN-ECONOMY-UNEMPLOYMENT-INDUSTRY
Japan’s jobless rate edges up to 2.5% in July
TOKYO, Aug 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japan’s jobless rate edged up to 2.5
percent in July, official data showed Friday, with the number of available
positions far outstripping job hunters as the country’s labour shortage
persists.
The July data from Japan’s internal affairs ministry is only a marginal
increase from the 2.4 percent rate in June and 2.2 percent in May, a 26-year
low.
And the jobs-to-applicants ratio in July was the highest in 44 years, with
163 job offers going for every 100 job hunters, a separate survey by the
labour ministry said.
Japan’s unemployment rate has been declining since about 2010 when the rate
stood around five percent.
The government has proposed slightly loosening tight restrictions on
foreign workers to help ease labour shortages.
A separate survey by the trade and industry ministry released Friday showed
factory output edged down 0.1 percent in July compared with the previous
month.
It was the third straight monthly decline.
The survey predicts factory output will edge up in August and September,
but the ministry revised down its economic assessment, saying “even though
production is gradually recovering, weakness is seen” in some sectors of
industrial production.
The figures come with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came to power in late
2012, widely expected to win a third term as party leader in an election next
month.
He is likely to run on his “Abenomics” economic policy intended to
stimulate growth, and a win could see his term as prime minister run through
2021.
Abenomics, which includes massive monetary easing and painful structural
reforms, saw initial success with a boost in stock prices, but some analysts
say its impact on the economy has been limited by the slow pace of reform.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0838 hrs