The employment situation for this spring's university graduates has worsened, with the outlook for males at a record low.
A survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry showed Friday that for students who expect to graduate from universities this month, the ratio of students who have secured jobs to those seeking employment was 82.1 percent as of Feb. 1, down 1.4 points from a year before.
The ministry said the percentage of male university seniors who had been offered jobs as of Feb. 1 was a record low 82.8 percent, down 2.6 points from a year earlier.
The corresponding figure for female seniors came in at 81.2 percent, up 0.3 point.
The overall figure for university graduates is up 0.5 percentage point from a record low 81.6 percent in fiscal 1999 through March 2000.