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May 30, 2023JAPAN LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, APRIL 2023 
Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 2.6% in April 2023. Compared with the previous month, Japan's labour force remained mainly unchanged (-0.03%) with employment up 0.2% in April.
Japan experienced only a modest rise in unemployment rates during the COVID economic shock. These effects have abated and Japan's unemployment rate has returned close to pre-pandemic levels. However, Japan's labour force and employment growth have largely stalled. In contrast, Canada and Nova Scotia now have employment and labour force that exceed pre-pandemic levels despite the much larger declines observed in each variable during the first wave of the pandemic.
Sources: Statistics Bureau of Japan. Table: a-1 (Seasonally adjusted) Major items (Labour force, Employed person, Employee, Unemployed person, Not in labour force, Unemployment rate (since Jan.1953); Population aged 15 years old and over by labour force status (annual average figures - Results of whole Japan); Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle
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