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Japan’s Job Openings Ratio Holds at 1.18 in November as New Postings Slump

Officials attribute weaker recruiting to rising input costs alongside minimum‑wage hikes.

Overview

  • The unemployment rate stayed at 2.6% in November, with the number of unemployed falling by 40,000 to 1.81 million.
  • Effective job openings slipped 0.4% from October and the number of jobseekers edged down 0.3%.
  • The new‑job openings ratio rose to 2.14, up 0.02 points on a seasonally adjusted basis.
  • New job postings fell 10.4% year on year, led by declines in lifestyle and entertainment (−19.9%), wholesale and retail (−17.2%), accommodation and food services (−14.1%), manufacturing (−12.1%), and transport and postal (−8.7%).
  • Prefectural disparities persisted, with Fukui highest at 1.82 and Fukuoka lowest at 0.98 on a work‑location basis, while Tokyo reached 1.73 and Kanagawa was 0.81 on an acceptance‑location basis.