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February 01, 2023JAPAN LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2022 
In December 2022, Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from November at 2.5%. Compared with the previous month, Japan's labour force and employment both edged up by 0.1%.
Japan experienced only a modest rise in unemployment rates during the COVID economic shock. These effects have abated and Japan's unemployment rate has returned close to pre-pandemic levels. However, Japan's labour force and employment growth have largely stalled. In contrast, Canada and Nova Scotia now have employment and labour force that exceed pre-pandemic levels despite the much larger declines observed in each variable during the first wave of the pandemic.
Annual average
Japan's unemployment rate averaged 2.6% during 2022. Although unemployment rates in Canada and Nova Scotia increased by much more in 2020 and 2021, they have returned to their previous downward trend as of 2022.
The aging of Japan's population weighed on labour force and employment growth from the late 1990s to the early 2010s. Although labour force and employment grew again up to 2019, they have remained stalled since the start of the pandemic.
Nova Scotia's labour force and employment also contracted from 2012 to 2015 (coinciding with declining population). Since then, Nova Scotia's labour force and employment have returned to growth, particularly in the last year.
Canada's labour force and employment growth have been more rapid than those in Japan or Nova Scotia over recent decades. Only periods of recession interrupted Canada's otherwise steady employment and labour force growth over this period.
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 (since Jan.1953); Population aged 15 years old and over by labour force status (annual average figures - Results of whole Japan); Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle; Table 14-10-0327-01 Labour force characteristics by sex and detailed age group, annual
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