The period between October 2008 and this June will see 4,955 employers shed 269,790 nonregular jobs, a March labor ministry survey showed Tuesday.

The figure, including workers whose labor contracts with manpower agencies were not renewed after expiration, increased by 7,192 from the previous survey in February, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

A ministry official said employment conditions are improving, but there is a need to monitor developments at the end of March, when more companies are expected to let labor contracts with temporary workers expire.

By prefecture, Aichi, the home of Toyota Motor Corp. and many of its parts suppliers, topped the list with 44,525 nonregular workers losing or expected to lose their jobs, followed by Tokyo with 15,932, Nagano with 11,150 and Shizuoka with 11,128.

The survey was compiled with data available as of March 18.