Tokyo Jobless Rate Drops to 4.9%

123jump.com Staff
02 Mar, 2010
New York City

Jobless rate in Japan dropped to 4.9% in January. Household spending increased 1.7% in January. Astella Pharmaceuticals Inc offered $52 a share for OSI Pharmaceuticals.

[R]5:00 AM New York, 7:00 PM Tokyo - Jobless rate in Japan dropped to 4.9% in January. Household spending increased 1.7% in January. Astella Pharmaceuticals Inc offered $52 a share for OSI Pharmaceuticals.[/R]

Japanese market averages increased as demand for semiconductors lifted chipmakers.

Jobless rate surprisingly dropped and spending rose in January, according to a government report.

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 Average edged up 0.5% or 15.4 to 10,221.84, and the broader Topix Index advanced 0.4% to 902.71.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 7.4 billion shares worth 492 billion yen were traded and in the second section 129 million shares valued at 1.4 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 index stocks, 131 rose, 67 fell, and 27 were unchanged. Sumco Corp. led gainers in the index shares with a rise of 4.6%.

Jobless Rate Falls to 4.9% in January

Statistics Bureau in Tokyo reported today that the country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in January from a revised 5.2% the previous month.

The preliminary data also indicated that the number of unemployed persons rose 16.6%, or 460,000 to 3.2 million in January from the comparable period a year ago.

Employed persons fell 1.3% or 790,000 to 62.13 million from a year earlier.

The ratio of job offers to job seekers rose to 0.46 from a revised 0.43 in December, while the number of job offers climbed 2.3%.

Household Expenditure Rises 1.7%

The Statistics Bureau also noted that the average of monthly consumption expenditures per household for January 2010 rose 0.2% in nominal terms and 1.7% in real terms to 291,918 yen from a year earlier.

Food expenditures rose 0.4% in nominal terms and jumped 2.3% in real terms to 64,256 yen; housing gained 5.9% in nominal terms and 6.4% in real terms to 16,291 yen and fuel, light and water charges fell 4.5% in nominal terms and gained 1.4% in real terms to 26,136 yen.

In addition, the average of monthly income per household fell 2% in nominal terms and decreased 0.5% in real terms to 434,344 yen in January from the previous year.

Average of consumption expenditures was at the same level in nominal terms but rose 1.5% in real terms to 321,633 yen.

Disposable income fell 1.9 in nominal terms and dropped 1.4% in real terms to 362,227 yen in January from the same period a year earlier.

Astellas to Bid for OSI Pharmaceuticals

Astellas Pharmaceuticals Inc reported yesterday that it will, launch a tender offer for shares of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc and place it as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The Japanese firm will offer $52 for each OSI share in the tender offer making a total tender offer worth $3.5 billion, a 40% premium over Friday’s closing price.

Nikkei Movers

Pioneer Corporation led the decliners in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a loss of 4.0% followed by losses in Fukukawa Co Ltd of 2.8%, in Kuraray Co Ltd of 2.8%, in T&D Holdings, Inc 2.7% and in Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited 2.5%.

Sumco Corporation led gainers in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average with a rise of 4.5% followed by gains in Sekisui House, Ltd 3.3%, in Mitsumi Electric Co Ltd of 3.3% and in Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd 3.2%.

Other Movers

Elpida Memory, Inc the maker of computer-memory chips rose 1.9% to 1,639.00 yen.

Kddi Corporation fell 0.8% to 482,000.00 yen after the mobile communication network operator was downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Kyocera Corporation rose 1.3% to 8,000.00 yen after the electronics maker today announced that it will increase its annual solar cell production targets to meet the growing demand for solar energy products in the global market.

New targets aim for an incremental increase to 1 gigawatt per year by March 2013, 2.5 times more than the current fiscal year 2010 production volume of 400MW.

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc the bank rose 0.5% to 178 yen.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation closed unchanged at 3,900.00 yen.

Nikon Corp rose 1.6% to 1,988.00 yen after which makes semiconductor-related equipment, ASML Holding NV and company are battling each other for the 22-nm lithography business at Intel Corp.

Sumco Corporation climbed 4.5% to 1,672.00 yen.

T&D Holdings, Inc an insurer decreased 2.7% to 1,868.00 yen.