91.9 percent of Japan high school grads land job offers

February 21, 2019

Tokyo--Job offers were secured by 91.9 pct of Japanese high school students set to graduate this spring, as of the end of December, the education ministry said Wednesday.

The reading was up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier in a ninth straight year of rise and reached 90 pct or more for the fourth consecutive year.

The improvement reflects efforts by high schools that give advice to students in close collaboration with companies and job placement offices, according to the ministry.

"The economy is picking up and demand for workers is quite strong," the ministry added. Of some 1,059,000 students at high schools across the country, some 186,000 said they want to work soon after graduation. Some 171,000 of the job-seeking students had landed informal job offers, according to the survey.

The job-securing rate for male students rose 0.3 point to 92.7 pct, while that for female students grew 0.4 point to 90.5 pct.

The rate was highest for students taking industrial technical courses, at 97.0 pct, followed by those learning commerce, at 94.8 pct, and those attending agriculture courses, at 94.1 pct. The lowest rate was for students on general courses, at 86.1 pct.

By prefecture, Toyama logged the highest rate, at 97.1 pct, followed by Mie, at 96.8 pct, and Akita, at 96.7 pct.

Okinawa ranked bottom, at 70.2 pct, followed by Osaka, at 84.8 pct, and Tokyo, at 86.7 pct.Jiji Press