Japan job availability drops to nearly 6-year low

Unemployment rate edges down to 2.8% despite losses in hospitality sector

20200731 japan workers AP_20202359464053.jpg

Tokyo's streets are still filled with pedestrians, though perhaps not as many as before the new coronavirus began hitting the restaurant and other sectors, leaving job losses in its wake. © AP

MITSURU OBE, Nikkei staff writer

July 31, 2020 08:58 JST

TOKYO -- Japan's key gauge of job availability in June dropped to its worst showing in five years and eight months despite unemployment edging down, government data released on Friday shows, as restaurants and hotels struggled to stay in business amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The ratio of job openings to applicants, a key measure of how plentiful positions are in the labor market, stood at 1.11 in June, down from 1.2 the previous month, the labor ministry said.