Jobless rate rises second month to hit 4.0%

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate in September rose by 0.2 point from the previous month to 4.0 percent for the second straight month of deterioration, prompting the government to lower its assessment of the employment situation for the first time in 31 months.

The rise is largely attributed to a growing number of female job seekers who left their previous employment either at their own or their employers' behest, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

The national unemployment rate returned to the 4.0 percent level for the first time since March, according to the report.

The headline reading is higher than the average market projection of 3.8 percent in a Kyodo News survey.

The number of jobless people fell 110,000 from a year earlier to 2.69 million, down for the 22nd consecutive month.

"Although basically the employment situation is improving, a weakness has been seen in the improvement trends recently," a ministry official said, revising downward the government assessment from the previous month.

When the ministry released the jobless data for August, the official said the overall situation was improving.

A separate report released by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry also showed negative readings in the employment situation.

The ratio of job offers to job seekers in September came to 1.05 on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 1.06 in August. That means there were 105 jobs available for every 100 job seekers.

The number of job offers fell 1.6 percent and that of job seekers remained unchanged, the labor ministry said.

The number of new job offers, or offers that came up during the reporting month alone, declined 13.2 percent from the year before.

"I have the impression that employment is weakening and I would like to analyze what factors are behind it," Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said.

Economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota also said weakness can be detected in the improvement of employment conditions but added she is not greatly concerned because production is picking up.

Private-sector economists were also puzzled by the weaker than expected employment data.

"The headline reading was really weak, due mainly to an increase of jobless women who worked for small firms as part-timers," said Takehiro Sato, chief economist at Morgan Stanley Japan Ltd. "I believe the problem of disparities has emerged in the field of employment, with people in vulnerable positions being hit most."

At the same time, Sato said he believes the jobless rate is unlikely to continue rising because the labor market for big companies remains tight amid the economic upturn.