Figures released by the Japanese government yesterday, show that in December unemployment rates a new post-WWII high for the fourth month in a row. December also saw applicants outnumber job openings by two to one at employment run by the government. Data on unemployment confirms the overall picture of the continuing deterioration of the Japanese economy painted by statistics on declines in manufacturing and increases in corporate bankruptcies.
See "Japanese unemployment continues at post-war high", BAYAN RAHMAN, Financial Times, January 29, 2002