Japan’s unemployment rate edged up in January as a record wave of COVID-19 infections prompted renewed restrictions that are likely to continue slowing progress in the recovery of the labor market in February and March.
The jobless rate rose to 2.8% as the number of people working fell by a seasonally adjusted 190,000 from December, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 2.7%.
A separate report offered a slightly more encouraging view of the labor market as job offers outnumbered applicants by a greater margin, a leading indicator of the employment trend. There were 120 jobs offered in January for every 100 applicants, compared with 116 positions a month earlier.