Worry not, it is not big deal. (Image via The Japan Times)

Jobless percentage in Japan worsens in January

According to the data released by the Japanese government on Friday, the unemployment rate in the land rose by 0.2 percent from the previous month to 2.4 percent in January. While the number rose, it is still considered at a level amid the chronic labor shortage.

In the reporting month, the unemployed increased by 120,000 to 1.64 million. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the increase was due to the rise in the number of mid-career job seekers. From the astronomical number, 720,000 people voluntarily resigned (+90,000 from the previous month), 370,000 were terminated (+30,000 from the previous month), and 400,000 were new job seekers (+20,000 from the previous month).

While the employment in Japan is improving gradually, the Ministry told that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) would inflict some damages to the statistics in February.

Before adjustment, the number of employment in Japan grew by 590,000 to 66.87 million in January, 29.70 million were women (+350,000 from a year earlier).

A statistic from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare showed that in January, the job availability ratio went down from 1.57 to 1.49, falling below the 1.50 threshold for the first time in 32 months. The ratio means there were 149 vacancies for every 100 job seekers.

The percentage of the working-age population from 15 – 64 years old rose by 0.7 points to 77.5 percent from a year earlier. For female workers within the age range, the number grew by 0.9 points to 70.6 percent; while male workers noted a 0.4 point increase to 84.1 percent.

Source: https://bit.ly/2w9xllU