Japan’s Tight Labor Market to Keep Upward Pressure on Wages

  • Unemployment rate slides to lowest level in four years
  • Latest signs of tightness come as unions negotiate wage hikes
WATCH: BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, speaking in Brazil Thursday, says the central bank’s price target is not yet in sight. Bloomberg’s Paul Jackson reports.Source: Bloomberg
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Japan’s job market remained tight in January, keeping pressure on companies to pledge solid wage increases in annual negotiations currently underway with labor unions.

The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% from a revised 2.5% a month earlier, the ministry of internal affairs reported Friday, sliding to the lowest level since early 2020. The outcome was in line with economists’ consensus estimates.