TOKYO, 3rd May, 2025 (WAM) – Japan's average unemployment rate in fiscal 2024 fell 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier to 2.5%, marking the first improvement in two years, amid a labor shortage, government data showed.
In the fiscal year through March, the number of unemployed people decreased 30,000 to 1.75 million and the number of those with jobs grew 370,000 to 67.93 million, the highest level since comparable data became available in 1953, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said, according to Kyodo News.
Among those not in work, the number of people dismissed by employers fell 20,000 from fiscal 2023 to 220,000.
The number of individuals who left their jobs voluntarily, typically in search of better opportunities, remained unchanged at 750,000.
A ministry official explained that job-seekers were able to find new positions even after being laid off as the labour shortage persists.
In March alone, the unemployment rate rose to 2.5% from 2.4% in the previous month, the ministry said.