Job Availability Logs 1st Fall in 29 Months

Jiji Press

11:03 JST, March 4, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s seasonally adjusted ratio of effective job openings to seekers in January fell 0.01 points from the previous month to 1.35, the first fall in 29 months, the labor ministry said Friday.

The drop apparently reflected an increase in job applicants hoping to change jobs for better pay or other favorable conditions. The figure represents the number of job openings available to each seeker registered with Hello Work public job placement centers across the country.

The number of job seekers rose 0.6%, while that of job openings fell 0.1%.

While personnel shortages continued in many sectors, some construction companies refrained from posting jobs on concerns over a decrease in home construction orders due to soaring materials prices and over business deterioration reflecting high fuel costs, ministry officials said.

Separately, the internal affairs ministry said Friday that the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in January fell 0.1 percentage points from the previous month to 2.4%, hitting the lowest level since February 2020.

The number of jobless people decreased by 40,000, or 2.3%, to 1.67 million, pushing down the jobless rate.

The improvement apparently stemmed from an increase in job seekers who landed jobs thanks to a better employment situation as economic activity was returning to normal after a slump caused by the novel coronavirus crisis.