Japan’s unemployment rate at 2.6% for fourth month

The unemployment rate in Japan was reported at 2.6% in May, while remaining stable for the fourth consecutive month and also in line with market consensus.

It has been the highest jobless rate since September 2023, data by the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications showed.

The number of unemployed persons went down by 10,000 to 1.82 million in May, while the number of employed persons went up by 10,000 to a three-month high of 67.61 million.

In the meantime, Japan’s labor force expanded by 10,000 to 69.44 million in May, while persons detached from the labor force decreased by 150,000 to 40.44 million.

And, the jobs to applications ratio in Japan dropped to 1.24 in May from 1.26 in April, which has been its lowest level in two years, the data showed.

The Japanese Yen was 0.13% weaker on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/JPY currency pair last trading at 160.937.

The major Forex pair hit a fresh multi-decade high of 161.283, a level unseen since July 1986, during the Asian trading hours ahead of the key US PCE inflation data for May, which may provide clues over the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts this year.