Job openings ratio logs 1st fall in 65 months

March 30, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's seasonally adjusted ratio of effective job openings to seekers in February dropped 0.01 point from the previous month to 1.58, registering the first fall in 65 months, the labor ministry said Friday.

Separately, the internal affairs ministry said the country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February rose 0.1 percentage point from January to 2.5 percent, up for the first time in nine months.

The number of jobless people increased by 90,000 to 1.69 million, with 50,000 more people than the previous month quitting jobs voluntarily.

An increasing number of workers are shifting to jobs with better conditions amid the improving employment situation, pundits said.

According to the labor ministry, the drop in the job opening-to-seeker ratio, calculated based on the number of job vacancies posted at HelloWork offices across the country and that of HelloWork-registered job searchers, came after companies stepped up recruitment efforts late last year earlier than usual.

But the fact that the ratio remained high suggests no change in the steady job increase trend, an official at the ministry's employment policy division pointed out.

Detailed February data showed that the number of effective job openings decreased by 1.1 percent and that of job seekers by 0.3 percent. The job-to-applicant ratio for regular positions was flat at 1.07.

Among the country's 47 prefectures, the job openings ratio was the highest in Tokyo and the lowest in Okinawa, with 2.09 job vacancies presented to each seeker in the capital and 1.14 in the southernmost prefecture.

The ministry also reported that unadjusted new job openings sagged 8.5 percent from a year earlier in the hotel and restaurant industry and dropped 3.2 percent in the information and communications sector. On the other hand, transport and postal service firms offered 5.4 percent more employment opportunities and manufactures 5.4 percent more. Jiji Press