The government urged top business leaders Wednesday to expand the employment of young people, saying the difficulty they face in finding jobs threatens the future of the economy.

The request was conveyed by labor minister Chikara Sakaguchi and education minister Takeo Kawamura in a meeting with leaders of business organizations, including Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren).

The government ministers said the inability of young people to find jobs poses a problem not only for themselves but for society at large.

Depriving young people of the opportunity to cultivate skills will lead to a shortage of future human resources to support the economy, they said.

The meeting was held after the release of data showing that the employment ratio for students about to graduate from universities fell to a record low in December.

As of Dec. 1, 73.5 percent of college students expecting to graduate in March had landed jobs.

The ratio for high school students due to graduate in March was 61.4 percent as of Nov. 30, the second-lowest figure on record.

Pay hikes unlikely

Hiroshi Okuda, the leader of Japan's most powerful business lobby, said Wednesday he thinks it will be hard for companies to accept demands for raises during this year's "shunto" spring labor-management wage talks.

"Generally speaking, given the deflation and intensifying international competition, it would be difficult to raise wages," Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said at a labor-management forum sponsored by the federation.

The annual wage talks usually begin in February.

Okuda said options for raising wages will have to be limited as companies must place priority on how to survive and maintain employment.

"Management and labor should instead seriously discuss how to improve household finances with existing incomes," the Nippon Keidanren chief said.