Oct 01, 2024 (News On Japan) - Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on the 1st that the nationwide unemployment rate for August dropped by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, reaching 2.5%. This marks the first improvement in two months.
The number of unemployed individuals decreased for the first time in five months, totaling 1.75 million, a reduction of 110,000 compared to the same month last year.
Source: TBS
Japan will face Tunisia in its second match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 21 in Monterrey, a northern Mexican city known for its mountains, modern skyline and unexpectedly strong connections with Japan.
Typhoon No. 7, named Mekkhala, formed east of the Philippines at 3 a.m. on June 20 and is forecast to move westward for the time being before approaching the Philippines early next week with a storm zone, while some simulations show it later turning northward toward the Okinawa area.
Eleven pupils and teachers were injured after a fire broke out at Takinogawa Daisan Elementary School in Tokyo's Kita Ward at around 11 a.m. on June 19, forcing more than 300 children to evacuate and briefly trapping several pupils on a narrow ledge outside a fourth-floor classroom.
Bear attacks and sightings are increasing across Japan, with multiple people injured on June 17 and experts warning that bears are becoming more accustomed to human environments, potentially leading to more dangerous and unpredictable encounters in the years ahead.
JR Central and JR West on June 17 announced pricing and service details for the new private-room seating that will be introduced on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen from October, creating a new top-tier class above the existing Green Car service.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for an infected liver cyst and is expected to return to work on June 23 while continuing outpatient care for about two weeks.
Japan's nationwide consumer price index rose 1.4% in May from a year earlier, staying below 2% for the fourth straight month as lower rice, gasoline, utility and school tuition costs helped curb the overall increase.
The Nikkei Stock Average surged past 71000 on Thursday, closing at a record high for the fourth straight session, as easing tensions in the Middle East lifted investor sentiment while the yen weakened to a nearly two-year low against the dollar.
Nissan Motor announced that it will launch the fully redesigned Kicks compact SUV on June 18, marking the model's first full overhaul in six years as the automaker seeks to strengthen its position in Japan's highly competitive small SUV market.
Japan's return to a world of higher interest rates is reshaping household finances, with a growing number of young homebuyers turning to 40- and 50-year mortgages to afford rapidly rising apartment prices, according to a discussion aired on BS-TBS's Report 1930 on June 17.
Japan's Fair Trade Commission has conducted on-site inspections of six major food manufacturers over suspicions they formed a cartel to coordinate ice cream prices, with authorities investigating whether the companies exchanged information and unfairly adjusted planned retail price increases in response to rising costs.
The Nikkei Stock Average briefly topped the 70,000 mark for the first time on June 16, rising as much as 700 points to an intraday high of 70,020 after the Bank of Japan's decision to raise interest rates matched market expectations, before retreating as investors locked in profits, though the benchmark still ended the day at a record high.
The Bank of Japan decided at its monetary policy meeting on June 16th to raise its policy interest rate for the first time in four meetings, lifting the benchmark rate from around 0.75% to around 1.0%, the highest level in 31 years.
