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July 03, 2018JAPAN LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, MAY 2018 
Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 2.2 per cent in May. Japan's unemployment rate remains at lows not seen since the 1990s.
Although Japan's unemployment rate continues to decline, there are remarkable changes in the size of labour force and employment in recent months. After reaching a trough at the end of 2012, Japan's labour force has been rising slowly from 2013-2017. A slightly faster pace of employment growth over this period eroded the unemployment rate. The labour force and employment peaked in March 2018 and have declined the last two months. For May 2018, the labour force declined 0.6 per cent while employment declined 0.3 per cent compared to April 2018. Compared to May 2017, Japan's labour force has grown by 1.5 per cent (+990,000) and employment has increased 2.3 per cent (+1,520,000).
Statistics Bureau of Japan
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