This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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Sid Shniad wrote:
> Reuters Friday, May 29, 1998
>
> JAPAN JOBLESS RATE A RECORD
>
> TOKYO - Japan's unemployment rate surged above four percent for the first
> time ever in April, the government said Friday, while economists warned
> that the nation's joblessness would continue worsening and soon exceed that
> of the United States.
>
> The seasonally adjusted rate climbed to 4.1 percent from March's 3.9
> percent, bringing Japan just shy of the U.S. April rate of 4.3 percent.
>
> The government vowed to take action to improve the harsh employment
> situation, the latest reflection of Japan's economic malaise. But investors
> pounced on the data, which marked a third consecutive record, as evidence
> that Japan's economy was not on the mend, and workers worried they might be
> next.
>
> The figure made it clearer that "the severity in the real economy,
> production and employment, is increasing," acknowledged Economic Planning
> Agency chief Koji Omi.
>
> U.S. ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley called the jobless data "troubling"
> and urged Japan to get on with boosting and reforming its economy.
>
> Omi's deputy, Shimpei Nukaya, agreed that it was "important to take steps
> for unemployment so that this will not affect consumer sentiment," which he
> said was just starting to show signs of improvement.
>
> Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will resuscitate a dormant employment
> council of cabinet ministers next Tuesday, the government said. The
> ministers will have much gloom to ponder when they hold their first jobs
> conference since February 1996.
>
> The total of unemployed, at a record 2.9 million, shot up by 26 percent
> from the number out of work in April last year, Friday's data showed.
>
> "Japan's unemployment is almost certain to rise above U.S. unemployment by
> the end of the summer," said economist Andrew Shipley at Schroder
> Securities Japan Ltd, adding that he sees Japanese joblessness averaging
> 5.2 percent in 1999.
>
> Economists said the worsening joblessness denoted an economy struggling to
> reallocate resources more effectively.
>
> "Over the longer term, what you want to see is the unproductive labor being
> shaken out and employed in more productive areas," said Russell Jones,
> chief economist at Lehman Brothers. "It's a good thing, but it's very
> painful when it's happening."
>
> In the financial markets, which usually ignore employment data as a lagging
> economic indicator, long-term interest rates fell to record lows as
> participants felt the data confirmed the economy was not recovering.
>
> The data also contributed to a nearly one percent fall in Tokyo stocks and
> helped keep the yen weak against the dollar.
>
> Employment fell in the hard-hit manufacturing and construction industries,
> although services -- now the largest single sector -- as well as wholesale,
> retail and restaurants logged modest improvements.
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--------------24E97368D9F2FA866A5E03F7
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Fri, 29 May 1998 09:06:15 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 09:13:57 -0700
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: JAPAN JOBLESS RATE A RECORD
Reuters Friday, May 29, 1998
JAPAN JOBLESS RATE A RECORD
TOKYO - Japan's unemployment rate surged above four percent for the first
time ever in April, the government said Friday, while economists warned
that the nation's joblessness would continue worsening and soon exceed that
of the United States.
The seasonally adjusted rate climbed to 4.1 percent from March's 3.9
percent, bringing Japan just shy of the U.S. April rate of 4.3 percent.
The government vowed to take action to improve the harsh employment
situation, the latest reflection of Japan's economic malaise. But investors
pounced on the data, which marked a third consecutive record, as evidence
that Japan's economy was not on the mend, and workers worried they might be
next.
The figure made it clearer that "the severity in the real economy,
production and employment, is increasing," acknowledged Economic Planning
Agency chief Koji Omi.
U.S. ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley called the jobless data "troubling"
and urged Japan to get on with boosting and reforming its economy.
Omi's deputy, Shimpei Nukaya, agreed that it was "important to take steps
for unemployment so that this will not affect consumer sentiment," which he
said was just starting to show signs of improvement.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will resuscitate a dormant employment
council of cabinet ministers next Tuesday, the government said. The
ministers will have much gloom to ponder when they hold their first jobs
conference since February 1996.
The total of unemployed, at a record 2.9 million, shot up by 26 percent
from the number out of work in April last year, Friday's data showed.
"Japan's unemployment is almost certain to rise above U.S. unemployment by
the end of the summer," said economist Andrew Shipley at Schroder
Securities Japan Ltd, adding that he sees Japanese joblessness averaging
5.2 percent in 1999.
Economists said the worsening joblessness denoted an economy struggling to
reallocate resources more effectively.
"Over the longer term, what you want to see is the unproductive labor being
shaken out and employed in more productive areas," said Russell Jones,
chief economist at Lehman Brothers. "It's a good thing, but it's very
painful when it's happening."
In the financial markets, which usually ignore employment data as a lagging
economic indicator, long-term interest rates fell to record lows as
participants felt the data confirmed the economy was not recovering.
The data also contributed to a nearly one percent fall in Tokyo stocks and
helped keep the yen weak against the dollar.
Employment fell in the hard-hit manufacturing and construction industries,
although services -- now the largest single sector -- as well as wholesale,
retail and restaurants logged modest improvements.
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