The economic fallout from the Great East Japan Earthquake plus the ongoing debt crisis in Europe has badly affected the job availability and the unemployment rate in Japan. In the latest data released by the government, job availability has fallen for the first time in three years while the unemployment rate has stayed at 4.2% in September, same as with the August figures.
Job availability is defined as the ratio of employment available to job seekers. The report shows that 81 positions were available for every 100 seekers or .81 in September from an already low .83 in August. Data from the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry showed the number of employed adjusted 0.1 percent, or 60,000, to 62.69 million while the unemployed expanded 0.4 percent, or 10,000, to 2.73 million. Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital Japan Ltd.,said that the declining job availability will of course affect the unemployment rate. He also expressed concerns that the slow industrial output, and the weakening of the manufacturing industry will negatively affect the job market.
This July, the Welfare Ministry revealed that a record high 2.12 million Japanese are now living on welfare. Just from June to July of 2012, there was a 9,000 increase on people receiving public assistance. Expect the numbers to increase as the unemployment rate continues to rise.
[ via MenaFN.com ]