Japan's unemployment rate rises 1.1%

On December 26, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan announced that the number of unemployed people in Japan in November 2023 increased by 1.1% compared to the previous month to 1.77 million (seasonally adjusted data), of which 760,000 people voluntarily quit their jobs (down 1.3% from the previous month) and 440,000 people were laid off (up 18.9%).

The number of unemployed people in Japan increased by 1.1% but the unemployment rate remained unchanged. Illustration photo: Thanh Tung/VNS

However, the unemployment rate in November 2023 in this Northeast Asian country remained at 2.5%, unchanged from the previous month.

On the same day, Japan's Ministry of Health , Labor and Welfare (MHLW) said Japan's job availability ratio fell 0.02 points from the previous month to 1.28 in November 2023. This is the lowest level since July 2022, mainly due to continued high raw material prices weighing on hiring activities in some sectors.

The latest job-to-applicant ratio means there are 128 job openings for every 100 job seekers. The figure fell for the first time in four months, according to the Ministry of Health , Labor and Welfare.

MHLW attributed the latest decline last month to many companies becoming more cautious about posting jobs amid rising raw material costs.

Among the sectors that saw fewer job postings in November, accommodation and food services fell 12.8% from a year earlier. Leisure and lifestyle services fell 12.5%. Manufacturing also fell 10.5%.

Previously, on December 25, the Japanese Cabinet Office announced that the country's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 2022 was 34,064 USD, the lowest among the Group of Seven (G7) countries due to the impact of the yen's devaluation.

According to the Japanese Cabinet Office, Japan's nominal GDP per capita fell from $40,034 in 2021 to $34,064 in 2022, marking the first time in 14 years that the country ranked last among the G7, behind Italy at $34,733. This also pushed Japan down one spot among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), from 20th out of 38 in 2021 to 21st out of 38 in 2022, for the first time since 1980.

The main reason for this situation is the rapid depreciation of the yen in 2022, assuming that the exchange rate between the yen and the US dollar in 2022 is 131.4 yen per 1 USD, while the exchange rate in 2021 is 109.8 yen per 1 USD./.

Trong Kien