Japan's Effective Job Opening-to-Application Ratio Hits Lowest in 3 Years and 6 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Japan's employment market has deteriorated, causing the effective job openings-to-applicants ratio, which shows the number of actual job openings per job seeker, to hit its lowest level in 3 years and 6 months.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 28th, the effective job openings-to-applicants ratio (seasonally adjusted) announced by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for March was 1.39, down 0.06 percentage points from the previous month. This is the lowest level since September 2016 and has been sharply declining since January.

The unemployment rate for March (seasonally adjusted) was 2.5%, worsening by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The number of unemployed reached 1.72 million, an increase of 60,000, of which involuntary job changes such as company circumstances and retirement increased by 40,000, while voluntary job changes decreased by 20,000. The number of employed persons decreased by 110,000.

New job openings, a leading employment indicator, decreased by 12.1% compared to the same month last year, with manufacturing down 22.8% and accommodation and food services down 19.9%. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that layoffs related to COVID-19 totaled 3,391 as of the 27th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.