Japan's Job Availability Ratio Improves

Jan 30, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Last year's average job availability ratio stood at 1.31 times, surpassing the previous year for the second consecutive year, against the backdrop of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the situation remains lower than the pre-pandemic year of Reiwa 1 (2019), and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has noted that "there appears to be a trend of reducing job openings in the manufacturing and construction industries due to the surge in raw material costs, and careful monitoring is required."

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of job openings reported to employment service centers (Hello Work) last year averaged 2,496,503 per month, a 0.9% increase from the previous year. On the other hand, the number of people seeking work averaged 1,909,647 per month, a 1.4% decrease from the previous year. As a result, the average job availability ratio for last year, which indicates how many job openings there are per job seeker, was 1.31 times, slightly higher by 0.03 points than the previous year.

Although there has been a two-year consecutive rise in the job availability ratio due to the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still lower than the 1.60 times seen before the pandemic in Reiwa 1 (2019). The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare states, "While there is an increase in job openings in the accommodation and food service industries, there is a trend of decreasing job openings in the manufacturing and construction industries due to rising raw material costs. It is necessary to closely monitor the recovery from the pandemic and the impact of inflation going forward."

Source: ANN

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