Employment rate for new university graduates remains high in Japan

May 17, 2019

Tokyo--The proportion of new university graduates in Japan who had secured jobs as of April 1 stood at 97.6 pct, the second-highest level on record, according to government data released Friday.

The figure, down 0.4 percentage point from a year before for the first fall in eight years, was the same as that for 2017.

The survey data were released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

The proportion of new high school graduates who had found employment as of the end of March rose 0.1 point to 98.2 pct, rising for the ninth consecutive year.

Employment demand remained strong among companies, an education ministry official said.

In the job market for new graduates, the number of job openings substantially exceeded that of job seekers.

The share of new university graduates who sought jobs rose 0.7 point to 76.0 pct, hitting the highest level ever.

Of new university graduates, the employment rate fell 0.2 point to 97.3 pct for men and dropped 0.8 point to 97.8 pct for women.

By region, the rate declined in the Kanto eastern, Chubu central, Chugoku-Shikoku western and Kyushu southwestern regions. On the other hand, the rate climbed to record highs in the Hokkaido-Tohuku northeastern and Kinki western regions.

Of new high school graduates, the employment rate of men remained unchanged at 98.5 pct, while that of women climbed 0.2 point to 97.6 pct.

By prefecture, the rate was highest in Fukui, central Japan, standing at 99.9 pct, and lowest in Okinawa, southern Japan, at 92.9 pct.

The survey covered 4,770 new graduates of 62 national, public and private universities, as well as 187,342 new high school graduates who were seeking jobs. Jiji Press