Japan's jobless rate hits 6-year high of 5.4% in June

I / Tokyo July 31, 2009, 11:57 IST

Japan's unemployment rate hit a six-year high of 5.4 per cent in June, according to the latest government data.     

The rate rose from 5.2 per cent in May and is the highest since April 2003 when it hit a record high of 5.5 percent.     

The number of jobless people increased for the eighth straight month to 3.48 million from 830,000 a year earlier, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in its preliminary report.     

A separate report by the labor ministry pointed out that the ratio of job offers to job seekers in June was at 0.43 per cent, the lowest on record for the second straight month.     

Japan's jobless rate has been rising every month since January's 4.1 per cent figure with manufacturers, hard-hit by the global economic crisis drastically trimming their workforces.     

Many economists believe that country's unemployment rate in no time will touch the post-World War II highest of 5.5 per cent.     

"The outcome was no surprise as an unemployment rate, a lagging economic indicator, normally continues to rise for about one year after industrial production bottoms out," Takuji Aida, senior economist at UBS Securities Japan Ltd, said.     

"The rate will worsen at least through the end of this year," It is projected to reach nearly 6 per cent by that time," Aida added.