Record 92.6 Pct of Graduating Students in Japan Secure Jobs

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)--A government report showed Friday that a record 92.6 pct of job-seeking college students graduating in Japan this month had received informal employment offers as of Feb. 1.

Amid serious manpower shortages in the country, the job-securing rate rose 1 percentage point from a year earlier to the level unseen since comparable data were made available in 2000.

According to the report, compiled by the education and labor ministries, the pre-graduation employment rate came to 93.8 pct for female students and 91.6 pct for male students, both up 1 point. By major, the rate rose by 1.7 points to 92.4 pct for science and by 0.9 point to 92.7 pct for humanities.

Of the six regions in the country, five enjoyed higher rates, with Kanto, which contains Tokyo, marking the leading score of 95.9 pct, up 1.4 points. Chugoku-Shikoku became the only region with a shrinking jobs market for fresh graduates, seeing its rate drop 1.2 points to 88 pct.

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[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]