Dec. jobless rate at 4.4%, rises at fastest pace in 42 years+

TOKYO, Jan. 30 Kyodo - Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose in December at the fastest pace in about 42 years to 4.4 percent, the highest level in almost three years, amid the rapidly worsening global economic crisis, the government said Friday.

The jobless rate jumped half a percentage point from 3.9 percent in November,
the biggest monthly rise since March 1967. The result prompted a government
official to warn that employment conditions are ''sharply deteriorating.''
The number of jobless people rose 390,000 from a year ago to 2.70 million in
December, increasing at the fastest speed in seven years, the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report.
''Employment conditions are worsening in an unprecedented manner,'' the
official said. The data from 1967 cannot be compared with the latest figure
because the jobless rates at that time stayed at the 1 percent level and the
sharp rise in March that year was caused by a special factor, he added.
The ministry revised its basic assessment on job conditions downward. In
November, it said the future situation ''continues to require close
monitoring.''
Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano told reporters he believes the
deterioration in Japan's job conditions is ''extremely serious.''
Tatsushi Shikano, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co., expects
the number of jobless people will likely increase toward the end of Japan's
business year in March and the unemployment rate could top 5 percent in the
near future.
''There is even a possibility that the jobless rate could reach a recent peak
of 5.5 percent,'' Shikano said. ''Employment conditions will improve sometime
after the economy starts to pick up, so it will take considerable time before
the situation gets better.''
The last time the unemployment rate hit the peak figure of 5.5 percent was in
April 2003.
An estimated 124,802 nonregular employees, mainly temporary workers in the
manufacturing sector, are expected to have lost or will lose their jobs in
Japan between October 2008 and March 2009 amid the recession, a survey
conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed Friday.
The jobless rate for men stood at 4.6 percent in December, up 0.5 of a point
from November, and the rate for women also grew 0.5 of a point to 4.3 percent.
The December outcome was worse than the average market forecast of 4.1 percent
in a Kyodo News survey.
In 2008, Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate averaged 4.0 percent, up
from 3.9 percent in 2007, the first year-on-year gain in six years.
Separately, the labor ministry said the ratio of job offers to job seekers in
December fell 0.04 of a point for the 11th straight monthly drop to a
seasonally adjusted 0.72, the lowest level in five years and one month.
The ratio, which means there were only 72 jobs available for every 100 job
seekers, matched the average market projection in the Kyodo survey.
The number of job offers fell 1.9 percent from November and that of job seekers
grew 3.8 percent, the labor ministry said. The number of new job offers
decreased 12.0 percent from the year before.
The average ratio of job offers to job seekers in 2008 was 0.88, down 0.16 of a
point from the previous year's 1.04, and marking the second straight year of
decline.
In 2008, the average number of job offers fell 16.0 percent and that of job
seekers dropped 0.1 percent from a year earlier.
According to the internal affairs ministry, the number of jobholders fell
650,000 from a year earlier to 63.31 million, down for the 11th straight month.
It was the largest fall since 710,000 in December 2002.
The number of male jobholders totaled 36.92 million, down 400,000 from the year
before. The number of female workers fell 260,000 to 26.39 million.
The number of people who were laid off rose 250,000 from a year earlier to
770,000, and the number of those who quit their jobs climbed 50,000 to 980,000.
The number of unemployed heads of households expanded 110,000 from the year
before to 680,000, and the number of their spouses without jobs grew 90,000 to
370,000.
By industry, the number of jobholders fell 270,000 from the year before in the
manufacturing sector, 250,000 in the transportation sector, and 200,000 in the
wholesale and retail sales industry.
By company size, the number of employees shrank in firms with less than 500
workers from year-earlier levels. The number of employees rose in companies
with a staff of 500 or more. The results apparently underline the gap in
business confidence between large and small firms.
==Kyodo
2009-01-30 22:57:17