The number of Japan’s non-regular employees, which includes temporary workers, dispatch workers, contractors, part-time workers and others, totalled 21.02 million in February 2023, up 1.4% 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 13.2% over the year and stood at a total of 1.54 million while the number of temporary workers overall decreased by 6.9% to 4.19 million.

Data from Statistics Japan also found that the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.6%, up 0.2% over the month and down 0.1% over the previous year.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate stood at 2.5%, down 0.1% from the previous year.

The employment rate in Japan stood at 60.5% in February 2023, up 0.3% over the prior year. At the same time, the labour force participation rate stood at 62.1%, up 0.3% over the previous year.

By industry, the biggest increase in employment was seen in the accommodations, eating and drinking services industry (4.6%) while the biggest decrease was seen in living-related and personal services and amusement services (-6.1%).

Meanwhile, Japan’s job availability ratio stood at 1.34, indicating there were 134 job openings for every 100 job seekers.