Japan: Expect an unemployment rate of 2.8% for September - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura forecast an unemployment rate of 2.8% for September in Japan, flat month-on-month, and a job openings-to-applicants ratio of 1.53x, up 0.01 m-o-m.

Key Quotes

“The job openings-to-applicants ratio, which tends to lead the unemployment rate, was flat month-on-month in August, and we expect unemployment to be flat month-on-month as well. The new job openings-to-applicants ratio, a leading indicator of the job openings-to-applicants ratio, fell by 0.06 m-o-m in August, but the indicators do not strictly correspond to each other every month. The new job openings to-applicants ratio has remained high since spiking sharply to 2.31x in May, and the six-month trailing moving average, which has a strong correlation to the job openings-to-applicants ratio, indicates that the September job openings-to-applicants ratio is on an uptrend. We thus expect the September job openings-to-applicants ratio to rise moderately.”