Japan’s jobless rate masks deepening worker despair

Jobless in Japan: People commute early morning in Tokyo. Japan’s jobless rate stood at 2.8% in June, much lower than 10.2% in the US and 7.8% in the eurozone. But a close look at data shows a rising number of people dropping out of the jobs race. — AFP

TOKYO: Japan’s low unemployment rate on paper suggests an economy weathering the coronavirus reasonably well, but official figures belie worsening prospects for the country’s army of temporary workers, who make up about 40% of the jobs market.

A rise in job losses would undermine one of the few successes of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” stimulus policies, aimed at reviving the economy.