Japan’s April jobless rate for men hits record high of 5 percent

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

Japan's overall jobless rate, however, remained steady at a record high of 4.8 percent in April, Japan's statistics bureau of the Management and Coordination Agency reported Tuesday.

The number of people without jobs increased to 3.42 million, a rise of 0.9 percent from March, while the number holding jobs in April fell 630,000, or 1 percent, from a year earlier to 64.69 million, it said.

The jobless rate among men broke the previous record set in March of 4.8 percent as more men were forced out of their jobs, an agency official said.

The jobless rate for women fell 0.3 of a percentage point to 4.5 percent.

"The unemployment situation is still very severe," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said. "It is our urgent task to remove anxiety ... and put the economy on a recovery track."

Nonaka also said the government was putting together proposals, to be submitted to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on June 11, to increase industrial competitiveness and deal with soaring unemployment.

Japan's jobless rate has worsened in recent months, increasing pessimism about the nation's economy, which is struggling through its worst recession in 50 years.

Tuesday's data highlighted the recent sharp rise in the number of people losing jobs because of corporate restructurings or bankruptcies.

Of all the jobless people currently seeking work, a record high 1.15 million were forced out of their jobs, while 1.08 million left previous positions voluntarily.

April was the first time since June 1987 that the number of people forced from work exceeded the number of those who left on their own.

The ministry official also said men between 55 and 64 years old most felt the sting of the restructurings, with the jobless rate for that age group rising to 7.2 percent in April.