TOKYO: Japan's ratio of effective job openings to job seekers in April plunged 0.07 point from the previous month to 1.32 after seasonal adjustment, the labor ministry said Friday.

The job openings ratio, which shows the number of jobs available to each job seeker registered at the ministry's Hello Work job placement centers nationwide, worsened to a level unseen since March 2016.

Restraints on economic activities amid the government's emergency declaration over the novel coronavirus crisis continued to hit employment.

The number of effective job openings dropped 8.5 percent, the largest decline on record, the ministry said.

But the fall in the job availability ratio was stemmed to some extent after a lot of people stopped seeking jobs amid the virus crisis. The number of effective job seekers dropped 3.4 percent.

By prefecture where employment offers were accepted, the job openings ratio was the lowest in Okinawa, southern Japan, at 0.91, due to a large impact from the coronavirus crisis on tourism. The ratio fell below 1.0 in a prefecture for the first time since September 2016.

The ratio was the highest in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, at 1.88.

Separately, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.6 percent in April, up 0.1 percentage point from the previous month and rising for the second straight month.

The number of jobless people increased by 60,000 to 1.78 million, the ministry also said.

The unadjusted number of workers fell 800,000 from a year before to 66.28 million, marking its first drop since December 2012.

Of the total, the number of nonregular workers decreased 970,000, led by female part-timers.

Meanwhile, the number of people on leave from work surged 4.2 million to a record 5.97 million, logging the largest year-on-year increase ever. The figures "clearly reflected the impact of the novel coronavirus crisis," an official at the internal ministry said, adding that the situation needs to be watched closely.

JIJI Press