— Japan June Jobless Rate 4.3%; May 4.4%; MNI Forecast 4.4%
— Japan June Employment -60,000 Y/Y Vs May -300,000
— Japan June Employment Posts 7th Y/Y Drop In Row

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s national average unemployment rate fell to
4.3% in June from 4.4% in May as more people found work and job cuts
were flat, while payrolls continued to drop from a year earlier albeit
at a slower pace, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications showed Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June came in lower
than the median forecast for 4.4% in a survey of economists by MNI.

The June figure was the lowest since 4.2% recorded in September
2011 and marked the second consecutive month-on-month drop.

In June, the number of payroll jobs rose by 270,000 (+0.4%) from
the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 62.72 million, marking the
first month-on-month rise in four months, following -100,000 in May.

The adjusted number of unemployed fell by 80,000 (-2.8%) to 2.81
million in June, compared with -100,000 (-3.3%) at 2.89 million in May.

Looking at the longer-term trend, the unadjusted number of employed
people fell 60,000 on year to 63.04 million in June, posting the seventh
straight year-on-year drop. But the pace of decline decelerated from
-300,000 in May.

The workforces fell in wholesale and retail trade and transport and
postal services as well as manufacturing, offsetting gains in medical,
health care and welfare as well as education.

Meanwhile, the unadjusted number of jobless workers fell 260,000 on
year to 2.88 million in June, after falling 170,000 in May. It was a
25th consecutive drop.

The data also showed that the number of those who lost their jobs
continued to fall from year-earlier levels in June while the number of
people who quit their jobs voluntarily to look for other openings fell
for the second straight month.

Effective with September 2011 data, the government resumed
releasing the national average unemployment rate based on figures from
all the 47 prefectures, including earthquake-hit areas that were
previously excluded from the data.

The government compiled employment and unemployment data from March
to August 2011 without records from the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima
prefectures, the hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that
wrecked the northeastern Pacific coast.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **

[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$,MT$$$$]