Agencies
Japan’s unemployment rate in April fell to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent in the previous month, improving for the first time in two months, as many workers switched jobs with the start of the new business year, government data showed Friday.The number of people with jobs edged up 0.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 68.76 million, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.Of those not in work, 430,000 were dismissed, while 790,000 people left their jobs voluntarily, typically to seek better conditions, both unchanged from March.
Those newly seeking jobs decreased 10.9 percent to 490,000, according to the ministry.“The employment situation remains solid,” a ministry official said, noting many people likely changed jobs around the start of the new fiscal year in April, while others who had previously not been working newly entered the workforce.
He added that some individuals may have secured their next jobs by year-end and resigned after collecting their winter bonuses in December, remaining out of the labor force until starting at their new workplaces in April.
The data seems to indicate that there has been a “fairly significant level of job changing,” the official said.The job availability ratio was unchanged from March at 1.18 in the reporting month, meaning there were 118 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, according to separate data.