| Updated:
Japan’s unemployment creeps up
Japanese unemployment was up slightly in October, it was announced yesterday. Unemployment rose to five per cent, the first rise in four months. The rise was narrowly higher than expected by economists. However, there was some positive data in the results, as the job-to-applicant ratio increased. And labour cash earnings grew by 0.6 per cent, compared to October 2009. And basic pay rose for the first time since April 2008, creeping up by 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, industrial production fell by 1.8 per cent on September, after a government programme subsidising new car purchases came to an end. The programme’s expiry was expected to cause a bigger slump, so the figures were “actually good news,” said Julian Jessop of Capital Economics.