— See Separate Table For Details of Individual Forecasts
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate appears
to be unchanged at 4.9% in January while the ratio of job offers is
expected to have risen to a two-year high of 0.58 from 0.57 in December,
according to the median forecasts of analysts surveyed by Market News
International.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will release
the unemployment rate while the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
will release the ratio of job offers to job seekers, both at 0830 JST on
Tuesday, March 1 (2330 GMT on Monday).
At the same time, the ministries will also provide updated seasonal
adjustments, revising figures from January 2003 for unemployment and
January 2006 for job offers.
The December jobless rate of 4.9% was below the record high of 5.6%
hit in July 2009, but still well above the 4.2% rate seen at the start
of 2009.
The ratio of job offers to job seekers, which is a coincident
indicator for the economy, has been gradually improving after hitting a
record low of 0.42 in August 2009 (meaning there were only 42 job offers
for every 100 seekers at government placement offices).
The ratio has stayed far below a recent high of 1.08 marked in July
2006, when the economy was in the middle of the longest post-war
expansion from February 2002 to October 2007.
The government is relatively optimistic about labor conditions in
fiscal 2011 starting on April 1. According to its economic outlook, the
unemployment rate will average 4.7% next fiscal year, improving from an
estimated average of 5.0% for this fiscal year.
skodama@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4838 **
[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$]
