Conditions in Japan’s labor market stayed tight in June, a development likely to keep sustained upward pressure on wages as companies compete to hire and retain workers.
The unemployment rate edged lower to 2.5% in June from 2.6% a month earlier, the Internal Affairs Ministry reported Tuesday. Economists had expected the reading to hold steady at 2.6%. The number of workers rose by 370,000, with women leading the gains, while those without jobs increased by 20,000.
An aging and shrinking workforce in Japan has created chronic labor shortages that helped encourage companies to agree to the strongest wage gains in more than three decades in annual spring negotiations with unions. Workers secured pay rises exceeding 5%, according to the final tally by the nation’s largest umbrella group for unions.