Japan's job availability in August worsened for the first time in four months as the government's state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic was expanded due to a resurgence in infection numbers, government data showed Friday.
The job-to-applicant ratio inched down to 1.14 from 1.15 in July, according to the
The ratio rose 0.02 from June to July before this latest decline.
Separate data from the
Throughout August, the virus emergency was in place in
The step was repeatedly expanded and eventually covered 21 out of
The emergency dampened consumption and dealt a heavy blow to the economy, as people were asked to refrain from making nonessential outings and restaurants and bars were requested to stop serving alcohol and close by
"The impact of the pandemic on employment conditions has continued to be seen strongly, especially in the service sector," a government official told reporters.
Following a recent drop in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the virus emergency was completely lifted Friday throughout
The rate of fully vaccinated people in
The total number of unemployed people in August increased 10,000 from the previous month to 1.91 million, up for the first time in three months. Meanwhile, people in work dropped 320,000 to 66.76 million, the first decline in three months.
The seasonally unadjusted figures showed that workers in the accommodation and restaurant service sectors, among the most impacted by the virus-related restrictions, decreased 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 3.66 million, seeing a sharper drop than any other industry.
Medical and welfare worker numbers grew 3.5 percent to 8.91 million, with the official saying demand may have surged as the government promoted its COVID-19 vaccination campaign across
Compared with a year earlier, the number of unemployed people fell 130,000 to 1.93 million for the second straight monthly decline.
"Some fields such as academic research and manufacturing seem to have already started to hire in anticipation of the resumption in economic activity amid the nation's chronic worker shortage that has been basically unchanged, even under the pandemic," Ogata said.
Looking forward, Ogata pointed out the number of people on payrolls will very likely keep rising, but the possibility will remain that virus cases could surge again. "Therefore, the figure is expected to recover at a slow pace, not instantly and rapidly," she said.
==Kyodo
© Kyodo News International, Inc., source