Japan job availability ratio falls as openings slow across sectors
Japan’s May labour figures pointed to softer hiring demand as job seekers rose faster than openings and unemployment stayed at 2.5 per cent.
- Japan's job openings-to-job seekers ratio fell to 1.17 in May, a 0.01 point decrease from April, marking the first decline in two months.
- The drop was driven by a slowdown in new job openings in sectors such as wholesale, retail, and construction.
- The labour ministry cited labour-saving efforts and the effects of Middle East tensions on material procurement as factors behind the decline.
- Demand for work outpaced the supply of jobs, as the number of effective job seekers grew by 0.7% while job openings increased by only 0.3%.
Japan’s labour market weakened slightly in May, as the availability of jobs for job seekers declined for the first time in two months, government figures showed on Tuesday (30 June).
The labour ministry said the seasonally adjusted effective job openings-to-job seekers ratio stood at 1.17, down 0.01 point from April.
The measure reflects the number of available jobs for each job seeker registered at public employment offices across Japan.
The drop came as new job openings fell in sectors including wholesale, retail and construction.
The ministry also cited labour-saving efforts and the effects of heightened tensions in the Middle East as factors behind the decline.
Effective job seekers increased by 0.7 per cent from the previous month, while effective job openings rose by only 0.3 per cent, showing that demand for work grew faster than the supply of available positions.
Some manufacturers and construction companies told the ministry that production and earnings had been affected to a certain extent because Middle East tensions had made it harder to procure materials.
Even so, the impact on employment conditions, including layoffs and hiring restraint, has been “very limited”, a ministry official said.
In separate data, the internal affairs ministry said Japan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from April at 2.5 per cent in May.
The number of employed people rose by 0.1 per cent, while the number of unemployed people fell by 2.8 per cent.
Among the unemployed, both voluntary job leavers, including those seeking new work, and involuntary job leavers, such as people who lost jobs for employer-side reasons, declined.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
