The employment rate for job seekers who graduated from universities this spring stood at 97.6 percent, government data showed Friday, in the latest sign of a widespread labor shortage amid a graying population.

The employment rate for fiscal 2018, which ended in March, was the second-highest on record after the 98.0 percent figure marked the previous year, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The government began recording such statistics in 1997. The latest figure marked the first fall in eight years.

Employment demand remained strong among companies on the back of the labor shortage, an education ministry official said.

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

The proportion of job seekers among university graduates rose 0.7 point from the previous year to a record 76.0 percent.

Of the job seekers, some 10,700 students were unable to find a job, according to the survey, which covered 4,770 new graduates of 24 national or public universities and 38 private universities. The labor ministry said it will continue to provide support for the job seekers.

On the slight fall in the employment rate, a labor ministry official pointed to some students who graduated without taking a job in order to try applying for their top-choice companies again.

By gender, the employment rate for male students fell 0.2 point to 97.3 percent, while that for female students declined 0.8 point to 97.8 percent.