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December 01, 2020JAPAN LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, OCTOBER 2020 
In October 2020, Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 3.1%. Prior to COVID-19, Japan's unemployment rate was very stable: from January 2018 to March 2020 Japan's unemployment rate was in a range of 2.2% to 2.5%. Japan's unemployment rate has not been higher since 2017.
The impacts of COVID-19 are apparent in Japan's labour market, but the magnitude of the shock appears to be more moderate than observed in other advanced economies. Compared to February 2020, Japan's labour force in October was down 0.5% while employment was down 1.3%.
In comparison, the impact of COVID-19 on Canada's and Nova Scotia's labour markets has been more severe. From February to October 2020, Canada's labour force increased by 0.2% while employment fell 3.3%. Canada's unemployment increased from 5.6% in February to 8.9% in October. Nova Scotia's October labour force was down 1.7% and employment was down 2.7% compared to February. As a result of the steeper decline in employment, Nova Scotia’s unemployment rate increased from 7.8% in February to 8.7% in October.
Sources:
Statistics Bureau of Japan. Table: a-1 (Seasonally adjusted) Major items (Labour force, Employed person, Employee, Unemployed person, Not in labour force, Unemployment rate (Excel:252KB) (since Jan.1953)
Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle
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