The Democratic Party of Japan-led administration, to be launched shortly, should do whatever it can to improve the employment situation, as both regular and irregular workers are suffering. Government efforts would help put the Japanese economy on a path to recovery.

In July, Japan's unemployment rate climbed to an all-time high of 5.7 percent (seasonally adjusted). The ratio of job openings to job applicants slipped to an all-time low of 0.42. Especially worrisome is the high unemployment rate among young people — 9.9 percent for those aged 15 to 24 and 7.1 percent for 25- to 34-year-olds (not adjusted seasonally). The number of unemployed people shot up by 1.03 million from a year earlier to 3.59 million. Many of the unemployed had been in such industries as car and electronic appliance manufacturing, which underpin the Japanese economy.

In the short run, the new administration should improve social safety nets for the jobless. It should immediately introduce a program — promised by the DPJ in its election manifesto — of offering ¥100,000 a month to job seekers who undergo vocational training. To avoid skills mismatches in the labor market, it will be necessary to find out what kinds of jobs are most needed by enterprises and how to improve vocational training courses.