Japan Unemployment Rate Below 4 Percent

Japan’s unemployment rate improved to 3.9 percent in June from the previous month, falling below 4 percent for the first time in four years and eight months, the government said Tuesday, as companies have become willing to hire more workers with the economy recovering.

The results indicated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies centering on drastic monetary easing have helped push down the yen and boost manufacturers’ export profitability, leading to improvement in the labor market, analysts said.

The country’s jobless rate fell to its lowest level since October 2008, immediately after U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. went bankrupt in September that year, triggering a global financial crisis.

Policymakers expressed optimism about the labor market, saying the government will continue to take measures to bolster the economy and create jobs.

“An economic recovery on the back of Abenomics has started to promote employment,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

“We will make every effort to end deflation at an early date and achieve sustainable economic growth led by the private sector,” said Suga, the government’s top spokesman.

Japan’s labor market is likely to improve further given that the outlook for the nation’s economy has become brighter with exports bouncing back, some analysts said.

via Mainichi

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