Japan's jobless rate climbs to 4.7% in July

People spend less since they don't have any money to spend. I'd hate to see what they owe on their credit cards. It'll get worse people.

"the data do not include the three prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami"....the data has been fudged a little, eh?

Wasn't Japan's unemployment rate over 5% a couple of years ago? For an economy that's supposedly been in freefall for twenty years, it can be hard to see. I think you should all read Eamonn Fingelton's articles on Japan.

Japan's unemployment rate of 4.7% is relative to US unemployment rate of 9.4%. Very, very high........ Job growth is one of many challenges PM Noda has to solve. Sounds like Japan is in a big D.

So, just to clarify, the average household SPENDS 280,000 a MONTH?? IF thats the case, i dont see any problems anytme soon!

So, just to clarify, the average household SPENDS 280,000 a MONTH?? IF thats the case, i dont see any problems anytme soon!

Japan is still hugely wealthy for a country whose economy is supposed to be in the shitter. Weird.

How big is the average household? And what's included in the 280,000 yen? Housing? food? utilities? taxes? insurance?

How is it "official data" if it doesn't include all the official data? It should be called..."stuff we made up because we don't know..."

@cleo

How big is the average household? And what's included in the 280,000 yen? Housing? food? utilities? taxes? insurance?

Good questions there, my friend... I wonder that too. The article lacks important details...

If the 280,000 Yen include food and rent and it is an average two adults, two children household, which then includes tuition fees, other education expenses and the like, then there is not much left for leisurely spending. Prices of common goods and foodstuffs in Japan are insane.

Lemme see....

Food for 2 adults, 2 kids, eating sensibly with few frills or treats, no meals out - ¥70,000

Utilities (electricity, gas, water, phone, internet etc) - ¥35,000

tax & insurance - ¥50000

household sundries (detergents, gomi bags etc) - ¥25,000

pocket money - ¥40,000

school fees and dinner for 2 kids in public elementary school - ¥20,000

Which leaves around ¥40,000 for housing, running a car, juku, leisure, clothing and private insurance. Reckon the average household isn't saving much for the kids' college education, or for old age.

Cleo, you need to add in mommy's lunches, shopping and daddy's nights out!

the hollowing out of Japanese industry as among his biggest concerns about the economy.

Yup and the goverment does nothign but sit on it's hands.

I have been saying for ages - No exports means less jobs which means less domestic spending which means less economic growth which means less jobs which means - well im sure you guys get the picture now.

If only the goverment would get the picture but they continue to stand around threatening to pull their heads out of the sand - BUT DON'T.

They better stop the outward flow fast or there wont be anything left here seriously.

tmarie - I hope daddy's nights out are included in the average ¥40,000 pocket money; mummy's lunches are leftovers out of the fridge, from the ¥70,000 that goes to feed the family; as for shopping (I'm assuming you mean for non-essentials like brand-name handbags, designer clothes and jewellery?) that's either out of the household sundries (not many LV bags in ¥25,000 once you've bought soap, loo rolls and rubbish bags....) or the 'spare' ¥40,000.

We also need to note that the average household's average critter is being fed on fresh air, and nothing is being spent on taking it to the vet or getting its regular vaccinations. All those folk crowding out the pet shop must be non-average.

I don't believe average housewives are the empty-headed spending machines many on JT claim they are, but at the same time I don't believe any 'average' household can survive on ¥280,000 a month. Heck, we're no longer supporting the two kids, but I couldn't manage on that.

If anyone wants details on the spending and incomes, they can refer here. It also says that the average monthly income per household is 572,662 JPY

http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kakei/156.htm

@ cleo

You got the food expense spot on it seems.

@cleo

I don't believe any 'average' household can survive on ¥280,000 a month

I'd agree. I reckon "average" is being used in its statistical sense (ie add up the all the expenditures and divide by the number of households), rather than in the sense of "normal" or "typical". That would include a lot of single people living alone, which would bring down the figures quite a lot.

Although there are always people like my wife around to bump up the total (390,000 yen on new speakers for the TV; bye bye winter bonus) :(

Kronos, many thanks for the link. The figures seem to bear very little relation to reality, though; housing less than ¥20,000 on average? Most of the country living rent- and mortgage-free? Education less than ¥9,000? It costs that much for public school - so no one is going to juku? Piano/soroban/ballet lessons?

We spend a hell of a lot less than 280,000 a month. What the hell are people buying that they need to spend so much?

Cleo, perhaps they aren't where you live but empty minded housewives where I live are a dime a dozen. My husband is shocked at some of the crap his coworker's wive's buy. And needless to say, those buying the insane things are not working - and many have no kids...

What the hell are people buying that they need to spend so much?

Food. a roof over the head. education. utilities. communication. life/health/property insurance. clothing. household stuff. transport. medical bills (people and critters). all adds up.

I note that Kronos' link doesn't make any mention of the taxes and public insurance that they gouge out of your bones, so presumably that isn't included in the ¥280,000. That would make a huge difference.

We don't have kids but besides that, we pay for everything else you mentioned - as I am sure most others do. No where near that amount. Clothing, household things and medical isn't a monthly thing and we certainly don't spend much there. Same with utilities - we don't use AC, I use my bike for transport... Plenty of ways to make things cheaper. Disposable society we live in when it doesn't have to be.

@Kronos, thanks for the link..that 280,000 doesn't include rent or mortgage. It only lists "Housing' as around 19K, what could that be?. Add in say, 150,000 for rent for a family of 4, that will make it more than 40 man, which makes more sense

I lived in Japan for 3 years and all I could get was rubbish contracting work. When the last one was terminated in May, that was the last straw and got out. I wouldn't recommend working in Japan to anyone. This figure does not take into account those who like me, refused to register for the unemployment benefit and/or Hello Work.

Japan's unemployment rate is not as bad as the US counterpart, if you solely focus on the statistics for each country. However, that does not necessarily lead us to the conclusion that Japan's job market is much better than the US, due to fundamental differences in the size of domestic labor force and job creation. It's quite hard to tell which one is ahead of the other. In the US, labor force is much bigger than in Japan, but it far exceeds the number of job availability to workers. That’s why their unemployment rate is relatively high (9.0+). In contrast, Japan has a decent ratio of job availability to workers, but its labor force is shrinking every year--due to aging and low birth rate. And there are lots of Japanese companies that are on the same boat with corporate America in terms of fiscal stability and labor condition. Many Japanese companies are having a hard time to make their ends meet since most of them rely on the exports to foreign market. Too bad a high yen rate does little to serve for domestic labor/job market.

I've been living in a small town in the South of US for 3 years. I pay $495/month for my apartment rent, plus $15-20/month for water bills, $45/month for electricity, $45-50/month for phone bills, and $112/month for the Suddenlink Cable TV. I see food prices soaring every year, and that forces me to spend at least $12-14 per day. But, come to think of it, that's what I usually pay for the meal I have at a cafe or restaurant in the downtown Tokyo. Some people will pay more than that.

I try not to think it too hard about the consumer price, but it really makes me hard to spend my life in Japan--especially in the center of Tokyo, where my parents have been living for many years.

Why is Japanese unemployment so low?

Japan has been able to maintain relatively low unemployment rates because large numbers of women who are temporary or casual workers withdraw from the labor force when they lose their jobs, rather than becoming unemployed — that is, they stop working and do not look for another job. Temporary workers, both male and female, represent an increasing share of Japanese employment. Such workers generally bear the brunt of labor market adjustments in Japan. In this way, Japanese employers have flexibility in their work forces during economic downturns, enabling full-time workers with permanent employment contracts — predominantly men in larger Japanese enterprises — to keep their jobs.

The conventional unemployment rate misses a great deal of labor underutilization in Japan, namely workers on reduced hours for economic reasons and discouraged workers (those who want a job, but are not actively seeking work because they believe their search will be futile). A more broadly defined rate which takes these other elements of underutilization into account increases the Japanese rate beyond that of the U.S. rate. (See referenced articles.) Cross-country comparisons on the broader definitions of labor utilization are not available after 1993, however.

References:

“Utilization of labor resources in Japan and the United States,” PDF (108K) by Toshihiko Yamagami, Monthly Labor Review, April 2002, pp. 25-43.

“International Unemployment Indicators, 1983-1993,” PDF (2,316K) by Constance Sorrentino, Monthly Labor Review, August 1995, pp. 31-50.

“International Comparisons of Unemployment Indicators,” PDF (2,674K) by Constance Sorrentino, Monthly Labor Review, March 1993, pp. 3-24.

@billyshears, Japanese unemployment is high. Most J unemployed workers get only 3 months UI while US is 6 months UI.