— See Separate Table For Details of Individual Forecasts
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is
forecast to have risen slightly to 4.4% in September from 4.3% in August
while the ratio of job offers to seekers is seen improving to 0.67 in
September from 0.66 the previous month, 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
Friday, Oct. 28 (2330 GMT Thursday).
Effective with September data, the government will release the
national average unemployment rate based figures from all the 47
prefectures, including earthquake-hit areas that were previously
excluded from the data.
It is unclear whether the jobless rate will be pushed up or down by
including data from the hardest-hit three prefectures.
In September, the ratio of job offers to seekers, which is seen as
a coincident indicator of the economy, seems to have risen to the
highest level in more than two years since 0.70 in December 2008.
skodama@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4838 **
[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$]
