Job availability in Japan worsens

Tokyo, Oct 1 (IANS) Japan's job availability in August worsened for the first time in four months with the expansion of the state of emergency against the surge of Covid-19 infections, government data revealed on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the job-to-applicant ratio inched down from 1.15 in July to 1.14, which means there were 114 openings for every 100 job seekers, reports Xinhua news agency.

The ratio rose 0.02 from June to July before this latest decline.

According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the jobless rate in the reporting month was 2.8 percent, unchanged from July, when it dropped 0.1 points from June for the second consecutive monthly decline.

Due to a resurgence of Covid-19 infections, Tokyo entered a state of emergency on July 12. In addition, with the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, the emergency measures were repeatedly expanded and eventually targeted 21 out of Japan's 47 prefectures by the end of August.

The emergency dragged down consumption and worsened the damaged economy, as establishments serving alcohol or offering karaoke services were asked to suspend their business, and those not serving liquor were requested to close at 8 p.m.

The total number of unemployed people in August increased 10,000 from the previous month to 1.91 million, and people in work dropped 320,000 to 66.76 million.

The seasonally unadjusted figures showed that workers in the accommodation and restaurant service sectors decreased 6.4 per cent year-on-year to 3.66 million.

It was a sharper drop than any other industry.

Meanwhile, medical and welfare worker numbers rose 3.5 per cent to 8.91 million, and the official said the surge in demand might be caused by the promotion of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign across Japan.

As the number of infections nationwide declined steadily, Japan lifted fully its state of emergency on Friday.

The relaxation of restriction along with more fully vaccinated people would raise the hope of a foreseeable economic recovery.