TOKYO -- Japan's unemployment rate stood at 2.9% in November, compared with 3.1% the previous month, the statistics bureau said on Friday, as the job market continues to reel from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The improvement, the first in five months, is the latest indication that economic stimulus measures by the government and the central bank are working. "The data confirm that the pace of deterioration in the job market is still gradual," said Takuya Hoshino, economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. "It is too early to conclude that the worst is behind us, however. Employment could worsen again as soon as government support is taken away."
