WORKING CONDITIONS AND THE LABOUR MARKET
Vol.33-No.11 November 1,1994
Recent Employment Situation & 1993
Survey on Employment Trends
Japan' s unemployment rate and jobs-to-applicants ratio in July, announced by the government, reached closely to the worst-ever levels due to the nation' s current recession. The July jobless rate, seasonally adjusted, rose 0.1 percent point to three percent, reaching the 3-percent mark for the first time in the seven years and one month since June 1987. It was only in January (3.0%), May (3.1%) and June (3.0%) 1987, following the Jendaka slump that the unemployment rate climbed to the 3-percent level in the 40 plus years since 1953 when the Management and Coordination Agency (MCA) began compiling these statistics.
The closely watched jobs-to-applicants ratio, announced by the Ministry of Labour, showed there were only 62 jobs at public employment security offices for every 100 applicants. The figure posted a decline for the third consecutive month to the lowest level in the seven years and five months period since February 1987. Employment indicators show labor market conditions are deteriorating despite brighter signs of recovery for the economy as a whole. "Employment improvement following a recession is usually delayed by more than half a year after the actual economic recovery, and the labor market is unlikely to continue to worsen," the ministry officials said.
Analysts predict, however, that the job situation will be worse. In the wake of this situation, the government released the outcome of a 1993 survey on employment trends. The year 1993 witnessed a tough job situation due to the effects of the recession. The aggravating employment situation was also reflected in the rate of job change. Both rates of job hires and separations dropped from the year before. The rate of new hires dipped 1.6 percent points to 14.2 percent, while that of job separations fell 0.6 percent point down to 14 percent. The large decline in the rate of new hires resulted in a 2.2point drop in the labor mobility rate to 28.2 percent, representing the second consecutive yearly decline.
The Survey on Employment Trends is carried out twice a year, first covering the January-June period and the second for the July-December period, to gain deeper insights into the migration of workers (those who found, switched and left jobs) in the labor market. The 1993 survey outlines employment trends both in the first half and the second half of the year. It covered about 14,000 establishments selected from firms with five and more employees in the nine major industries and about 130,000 newly hired workers and 120,000 separated workers in the surveyed establishments during the 1993 period. Replies were received from 91.1 percent of the 14,000 establishments.
By industry, the largest, or 1.48 million people were employed in the services, followed by wholesale and retail trades and eating and drinking places (1.34 million) and manufacturing (1.18 million). Meanwhile, the largest number, 1.35 million workers left manufacturing and service jobs, followed by 1.27 million workers who left the wholesale and retail trades and eating and drinking jobs. The largest number, 860,000 workers job-hopped in the services, followed by 650,000 in manufacturing and 610,000 in wholesale and retail trades and eating and drinking industries.
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