Flat Jobless Rate in Japan as Inflation Eases

Hiruki Nakamura
26 Jun, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average on Friday extended weekly gains after jobless rate in May was flat and volatile household spending rose for the first time in over a year. The latest economic reading supports the string of relatively weak economic backdrop with the consumer demand falling.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average on Friday extended weekly gains after jobless rate in May was flat and volatile household spending rose for the first time in over a year. The latest economic reading supports the string of relatively weak economic backdrop with the consumer demand falling.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo extended weekly gains and jobless rate was flat in May and household spending increased for the first time in over a year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May was 3.3%, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said today.

The number of unemployed persons in May declined 7.4% to 2.24 million, a decrease of 180,000 from a year ago month.

The participation rate increased to 59.8% from 59.4% a month earlier.

In a separate report the Ministry said the average monthly household spending in May jumped 5.5% to 286,433 yen from the same period a year ago.

The average monthly income per household increased 1.5% to 430,325 yen compared to a year ago.

The Ministry also said consumer price index in May rose 0.3% from the previous month and increased 0.5% from a year ago month.

The preliminary estimate of consumer price index for Ku-area of Tokyo in June fell 0.4% from the previous month but rose 0.3% from a year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 65.25 or 0.3% to 20,706.15 and the broader Topix index slid 3.88 to 1,667.03.

For the week, Nikkei 225 increased 2.7%.

The yen closed at 123.45 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

JX Holdings, Inc slid 0.3% to 537.70 yen after the petrochemical company plans to reduce the spending by almost 25% in next three-years and shift away from oil-based products.

The company also intends to spend 1 trillion yen between 2016 and 2019 on capital expenditures.

The refiner said today that it would refine 1% less crude oil for domestic use in July than the year-ago period but it would refine 954,000 barrels per day or 4.70 million kilolitres a month in July higher than the estimated 803,000 barrel per day or 3.83 million kilolitres in June.

Komatsu Ltd slipped 1.4% to 2,489.50 yen after the construction machinery and vehicles maker plans to invest 20 billion yen to divide power consumption at two major plants to reduce costs by around 30 billion yen up to 2017.

Oracle Corporation Japan fell 0.2% to 5,460 yen after the software developer reported revenues in the year ending in May increased 3.9% to 161.05 billion yen from 154.97 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the year soared 11.3% to 30.25 billion yen compared to 27.17 billion yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 237 yen from 213 yen.

The company forecasted fiscal 2016 revenues to increase between 2% and 5% and net income per share in the range of 245 yen to 254 yen.