Japan’s unemployment rate drops in August as pandemic presses

August had seen Japan’s unemployment rate surging to its sharpest level in almost three years. Meanwhile, job vacancies dropped to more than a six-year low, underscoring the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis within the month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Japan’s unemployment rate advanced 3.0%, data from the labor ministry showed. The figure came to be the highest reading since May 2017, meeting the 3.0% forecast rendered by analysts.

Moreover, the jobs-to-applicants ratio was read at 1.04, matching a reading last monitored in January 2014. This placed lower than the 1.08 record in July and below the 1.05 median market forecast.

Pressing concerns in the jobs market are expected to bring pressure, prompting the government to provide support for small and medium-sized companies to cap unemployment.