# Labour · Plover Analytics

> Japan's unemployment rate and employment from the Labour Force Survey, the job openings-to-applicants ratio, and wages, real wages and hours from the Monthly Labour Survey — monthly, from 1953, 1963 and 1970.

Page: https://ploveranalytics.com/labour.html?dataset=wages-jp

## Job openings-to-applicants ratio — Hello Work

Latest reading, August 2026: Active openings ratio 1.2 ratio; New openings ratio 2.1 ratio; Active ratio, excl. part-time 1.2 ratio; Active ratio, part-time 1.1 ratio.

_Latest values, as published_

| Period | Active openings-to-applicants ratio (ratio) | New openings-to-applications ratio (ratio) |
|---|---:|---:|
| Aug 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Jul 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Jun 2026 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| May 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Apr 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Mar 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Feb 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Jan 2026 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Dec 2025 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Nov 2025 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Oct 2025 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Sep 2025 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Aug 2025 | 1.2 | 2.1 |

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Employment Referrals for General Workers. · Data through August 2026 · JSON: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/job-openings-jp/overview · CSV: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/job-openings-jp/observations?series=sa.active.incl_part&format=csv

## Unemployment and employment — Labour Force Survey

Latest reading, August 2026: Unemployment rate 2.5%; Unemployed 177 10k persons; Employed 6,834 10k persons; Labour force 7,009 10k persons.

_Latest values, as published_

| Period | Unemployment rate, both sexes (%) | Unemployment rate, men (%) | Unemployment rate, women (%) | Unemployment rate, both sexes · YoY (%) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Aug 2026 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.3 | −3.8 |
| Jul 2026 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 0.0 |
| Jun 2026 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| May 2026 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| Apr 2026 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| Mar 2026 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 8.0 |
| Feb 2026 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 8.3 |
| Jan 2026 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 8.0 |
| Dec 2025 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 4.0 |
| Nov 2025 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 4.0 |
| Oct 2025 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 4.0 |
| Sep 2025 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 8.3 |
| Aug 2025 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 4.0 |

YoY: (value[t] / value[t−12 months] − 1) × 100, from published values.

Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, Labour Force Survey. · Data through August 2026 · JSON: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/unemployment-jp/overview · CSV: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/unemployment-jp/observations?series=sa.unemployment_rate.total&format=csv

## Wages, hours and employment — Monthly Labour Survey

Latest reading, August 2026: Real wages, YoY 1.6%; Total cash earnings, YoY 3.9%; Base pay, full-time, YoY 4.0%; Total cash earnings 311,563 ¥.

_Latest values, as published_

| Period | Real wages, change on a year earlier (%) | Total cash earnings, change on a year earlier (%) | Base pay, full-time, change on a year earlier (%) | Real wages, change on a year earlier · YoY (%) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Aug 2026 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 4.0 | −194.1 |
| Jul 2026 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 3.7 | −1,100.0 |
| Jun 2026 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 3.7 | −375.0 |
| May 2026 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 3.6 | −161.5 |
| Apr 2026 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 3.6 | −200.0 |
| Mar 2026 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 3.9 | −177.8 |
| Feb 2026 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 3.8 | −233.3 |
| Jan 2026 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.4 | −125.0 |
| Dec 2025 | −0.1 | 2.4 | 2.4 | −133.3 |
| Nov 2025 | −1.6 | 1.7 | 2.4 | −420.0 |
| Oct 2025 | −0.8 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 100.0 |
| Sep 2025 | −1.3 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 225.0 |
| Aug 2025 | −1.7 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 112.5 |

YoY: (index[t] / index[t−12 months] − 1) × 100, from published index values.

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Monthly Labour Survey. · Data through August 2026 · JSON: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/wages-jp/overview · CSV: https://ploveranalytics.com/api/v1/wages-jp/observations?series=real_wage_yoy.all.5plus.all&format=csv

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Every figure above is either as published by its source (official) or calculated by this platform with the formula stated beside it. Missing is shown as —, never as zero. Guidance for quoting: https://ploveranalytics.com/llms.txt