National News

High school graduates face brighter market

The employment situation for high school graduates has improved for the fourth straight year to the most favorable level in nine years, according to a report released by the labor ministry Sept. 13

Companies have increased their job offers to take advantage of a pick-up in economic activity in Japan and to prepare for the huge mandatory retirement of baby-boom workers starting in 2007, ministry officials said

The nationwide average ratio of job offers to seekers for high school students, who will graduate next spring, stood at 1.14 as of the end of July, said the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

This is up 0.24 points from a year earlier for the first rise above 1.0 in nine years

The ministry compiled the data based on job offers and applications filed with public job-placement offices.

Companies were offering some 238,000 jobs, up 26.6 percent, while the number of students who wish to get employed following graduation increased 0.4 percent to 209,000

By prefecture, the ratio of job offers to seekers was the highest in Tokyo at 4.41, followed by Aichi at 2.54 and Osaka at 2.25. Aomori, Okinawa and Kochi marked the three lowest ratios of 0.17, 0.21 and 0.24, respectively.

Shukan ST: Sept. 22, 2006

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