Japan’s Unemployment Rate Improved to 3.5% in October

Japan’s unemployment rate improved to 3.5 percent in October from 3.6 percent the previous month, with some companies eager to hire women due to labor shortages, government data showed Friday.

The number of unemployed people fell a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent from the previous month to 2.34 million, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said, adding the number of people holding jobs slid 0.2 percent to 63.55 million.

The number of unemployed women fell 60,000 to 910,000, while that of unemployed men rose 20,000 to 1.43 million, the ministry said in a preliminary report.

The unemployment rate for women decreased 0.2 percentage point from September to 3.2 percent, though that for men rose 0.1 point to 3.8 percent, it said.

“As some industries such as construction have been trying to adequately staff their operations, the job market has continued to pick up,” a ministry official briefing reporters said.

Separate data showed job availability improved for the first time in four months.

The ratio of employment offers to seekers rose to 1.10 in October from 1.09 in September, which means 110 positions were available for every 100 job seekers, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

via Mainichi

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