The number of Japan’s non-regular employees, which includes temporary workers, dispatch workers, contractors, part-time workers and others, totalled 21.28 million in November 2022, up 1.4% when compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from Statistics Japan.

The number of ‘dispatched workers from temporary labour agencies’ rose 2.7% over the year and stood at a total of 1.50 million while the number of temporary workers overall increased by 1.3% to 4.59 million.

Meanwhile, Japan’s unemployment rate stood at 2.4%, down 0.3% over the year and down 0.2% compared to the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate stood at 2.5%, down 0.1% over the month and down 0.3% over the year.

Japans’ job availability ratio remained unchanged at 1.35 in November.