Japan’s Jobless Rate rose to 4.2% in August, the highest level since June 2006 after sluggish consumption continued draining the economy of productive output. The 0.2 percentage point jump from July came after Household Spending fell for a sixth straight month, by 4.0% from the year prior. Indeed the economy has suffered two straight quarters of negative growth – what many consider the technical definition of recession. Another silent form of labor weakness that has continued to affect the Japanese jobs market has been the reduction in hours worked. Employees in August saw their number of weekly hours shrink for a third straight month.
The USDJPY traded at 104.04 at 02:19 GMT.
Al Bawaba
