— Japan Apr Jobless Rate 4.6%; Mar 4.5%; MNI Forecast 4.5%
— Japan Apr Employment -270,000 Y/Y Vs Mar -230,000
— Japan Apr Employment Posts 5th Y/Y Drop In Row
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s national average unemployment rate rose to
4.6% in April from 4.5% in March as the number of employed fell from the
previous month and more people quit their jobs to look for other
openings, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
showed Tuesday.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April came slightly
higher than the median forecast for 4.5% in a survey of economists by
MNI.
The April figure matched the 4.6% unemployment rate in January and
also marked the first rise since then.
In April, the number of payroll jobs fell by 160,000 (-0.3%) from
the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 62.55 million, marking the
second consecutive month-on-month drop, following -170,000 in March.
The adjusted number of unemployed rose by 20,000 (+0.7%) to 2.99
million in April, compared with -10,000 (-0.3%) at 2.97 million in
March. Many people quit voluntarily for other opportunities.
Looking at the longer-term trend, the unadjusted number of employed
people fell 270,000 on year to 62.75 million in April, posting the fifth
straight year-on-year drop. The pace of decline accelerated from
-230,000 in March.
The workforces fell in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturers as
well as transport and postal services, offsetting gains in medical,
health care and welfare, and construction as well as information and
communications.
Meanwhile, the unadjusted number of jobless workers fell 140,000 on
year to 3.15 million in April, after falling 150,000 in March. It was a
23rd consecutive drop.
The data also showed that the number of those who lost their jobs
and were looking for work continued to fall from year-earlier levels in
April while the number of people who quit their jobs voluntarily to look
for other openings rose for the first in two months.
Effective with September 2011 data, the government resumed
releasing the national average unemployment rate based on figures from
all the 47 prefectures, including earthquake-hit areas that were
previously excluded from the data.
The government compiled employment and unemployment data from March
to August 2011 without records from the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima
prefectures, the hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that
wrecked the northeastern Pacific coast.
tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **
[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$,MT$$$$]
