By BridgeNews
Tokyo--Jan. 30--The ratio of job offers to job seekers in Japan's labor market stood at 0.66 in December 2000 after seasonal adjustment, up from 0.65 in November, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced Tuesday. The December figure was in line with the average outlook of 0.66 by economists here.
The ratio has been steadily improving, reflecting strong job offers from new businesses, such as information technology (IT) industries.
* * * The current worst record was 0.46 marked in May 1999.
The ratio reflects job offers to job seekers at government employment agencies. A ratio below 1.0 means there are not enough jobs available for all job seekers.
New job offers rose 27.1% on year in December, showing double-digit rises for 8 straight months, thanks to strong demand for workers from newly creased business and recovery in industrial output.
According to the ministry, new job offers from information service industry, including IT-related business, rose 51.9% on year in December. New jog offers from medical, education and other social security industry, such as nursery case business, increased 30.5% on year, while new job offers from manufacturers were up 31.5% on year.
Moreover, the ratio of job offers to job seekers in 2000 was at 0.59, up from 0.48 in 1999, the ministry said. During 2000, new job offers increased 19.9% on year, while new job seekers decreased 0.2%.