The number of Japan’s non-regular employees, which includes temporary workers, dispatch workers, contractors, part-time workers and others, totalled 21.01 million in March 2023, up 1.1% when compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from Statistics Japan.

Meanwhile, the number of ‘dispatched workers from temporary labour agencies’ increased by 14.8% over the year and stood at a total of 1.63 million while the number of temporary workers overall decreased by 6.3% to 4.20 million.

Data from Statistics Japan also found that the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.8%, up 0.2% over the month and up 0.2% over the previous year.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate also stood at 2.8%, up 0.2% from the previous year.

The employment rate in Japan stood at 60.8% in March 2023, up 0.3% over the prior year. At the same time, the labour force participation rate stood at 62.6%, up 0.5% over the previous year.

By industry, the biggest increase in employment was seen in the accommodations, eating and drinking services industry (up 6.6%) while the biggest decrease was seen in wholesale and retail trade (-3.0%).

Further data also showed that Japan’s job availability ratio stood at 1.32, indicating there were 132 job openings for every 100 job seekers.