Japan's unemployment rate rises to 2.6% in August

Business Oct 03, 2025

Japan's unemployment rate ticked up to 2.6% in August—the highest in over a year—rising from the previous month's 2.3%.
This jump was a bit higher than expected and comes as the Bank of Japan debates raising interest rates, even though not everyone on the board agrees.

Key details of the report

The job-to-applicant ratio dropped to its lowest since 2022, meaning there are still more job openings than job seekers, but the gap is narrowing.
Despite ongoing labor shortages, business bankruptcies rose by 22% this year and companies are relying more on foreign workers (a record 2.3 million as of late last year).
Meanwhile, unions scored over 5% wage hikes—the biggest bump since the early '90s—as firms try to keep up with pay demands and economic changes.