Latest news with #employmentGrowth
CNA
03-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Japan's service activity growth picks up in June, PMI shows
TOKYO :Japan's service sector activity expanded at a slightly faster pace in June, with business confidence improving to a four-month high, a private sector survey showed on Thursday. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 51.7 in June from 51.0 in May, topping the flash figure of 51.5 and marking a third consecutive month of growth. Readings above 50.0 indicate expansion in activity, while those below that level point to a contraction on a monthly basis. Overall new order growth accelerated slightly from May. But the increase in new export business, generally attributed to tourist activities, decelerated to the slowest since December. Service firms' business confidence on a 12-month outlook improved to a four-month high in June, with companies citing expansion plans, staff hiring and new product rollouts, according to the survey. As a result, employment in the sector grew at the fastest pace since January. Input price inflation eased to a six-month low, but output inflation rose to the fastest rate in 14 months, as service firms continued to pass higher labour, fuel and other costs onto their customers. The upturn in services, coupled with factory activities' return to growth for the first time in about a year, helped lift the composite PMI to 51.5 in June from 50.2 in May, marking the strongest overall business activity growth since February. "However, market confidence and trading conditions remain subdued, in part due to lingering uncertainty over U.S. tariffs," said Annabel Fiddes, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiled the survey. "The PMI data signalled that overall growth momentum slowed in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2025, to suggest an easing of GDP growth," Fiddes added. Japan's GDP shrank by an annualised 0.2 per cent in the January-March quarter due to falling exports and lacklustre domestic consumption even before the full blow of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs hit the economy.
CBC
06-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Windsor unemployment rate climbs to 10.8% in May
Windsor's jobless rate is the second highest in Canada for the second month in a row, according to new data released Friday by Statistic Canada. The seasonally adjusted three-month moving average rose a tenth of a percentage point to 10.8 per cent in May. Only Peterborough had a higher unemployment rate at 11.2 per cent. The Windsor number is more than two percentage points higher than it was in May of 2024, when the unemployment rate in the census metropolitan area sat at 8.5 per cent. The rate surpassed the 10 per cent mark in April. Nationwide, the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to seven per cent in May, the highest it's been in nine years outside of the pandemic, according to Stat Can. There has been virtually no employment growth since January after strong gains in the fall, the agency wrote in its latest labour force survey.
Malay Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Jobs on the rise: Malaysia's labour demand climbs to 9.06 million in Q1 2025, fuelled by services and manufacturing
PUTRAJAYA, May 15 — Malaysia's labour demand rose 1.4 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, reaching 9.06 million jobs compared to 8.94 million in the same period last year, according to the Employment Statistics released today by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth is in line with Malaysia's improving economic performance, projected to continue supported by resilient domestic demand. Of the total jobs recorded, 97.9 per cent were filled, while the remaining 2.1 per cent were vacant. He said the number of filled jobs rose 1.4 per cent year-on-year to 8.87 million in Q1 2025, compared to 8.75 million in the same quarter last year. All sectors contributed to the growth, with the services sector leading at 1.8 percent, followed by manufacturing (1.5 percent) and construction (0.5 percent). In terms of economic activity, the services sector accounted for the largest share of filled jobs at 52.8 percent or 4.69 million, followed by manufacturing at 26.9 percent (2.38 million), and construction at 14.1 percent (1.25 million), he added. Commenting on the distribution by skills category, Mohd Uzir said the majority were in the semi-skilled category, accounting for 5.55 million or 62.5 percent of total filled jobs. This was followed by 2.23 million jobs in the skilled category and 1.09 million in the low-skilled category. On current labour demand, he noted that job vacancies rose 1.2 percent year-on-year to 194,100 in Q1 2025, up from 191,900 in the same quarter last year. He said the manufacturing sector remained the main contributor to job vacancies, making up 57.3 percent of total vacancies, with the electrical, electronic and optical products sub-sector recording 33,900 vacancies, followed by 20,200 vacancies in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products sub-sector. The agriculture and construction sectors reported 31,800 and 25,400 vacancies, respectively. By skills category, semi-skilled roles accounted for the largest share of vacancies at 56.3 per cent (109,200), while skilled and low-skilled roles made up 24.4 per cent (47,400) and 19.3 per cent (37,500), respectively. On job creation, Mohd Uzir reported that a total of 33,200 new jobs were created in Q1 2025, an increase of 3.4 per cent from 32,100 jobs recorded in the same quarter last year. 'The rise in jobs created, especially in skilled and semi-skilled categories, may encourage individuals to pursue higher education and specialised training, building a workforce with expertise and innovation,' he noted. He stated that Malaysia's labour demand is set for continued growth, reflecting the nation's commitment to strengthening its economic foundation and achieving sustainable development. The manufacturing sector remained a key driver, with the Monthly Manufacturing Statistics reporting a 1.1 per cent year-on-year increase in employment within the sector during the quarter, he explained. 'This trend aligns with the objectives of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), which aims to drive employment growth and enhance workforce capabilities within the manufacturing sector,' he said. — Bernama
