Japanese economy softening

The Japanese economy is following the worldwide trend -- in other words, it's slowing down.

Japan July jobless rate 4.9 percent, analysts see no economic stumble
Japan's jobless rate rose to a worse-than-expected 4.9 percent in July but the government said the uptick in unemployment was mainly caused by young people leaving positions to search for new jobs. Economists also downplayed suggestions that the rise in joblessness signalled a stumble in the country's economic recovery...

"In the past several weeks we've had some mixed data. And so people are trying to really gauge where momentum is at at the moment," said JP Morgan economist Ryo Hino. "We still think that GDP (gross domestic product) is still capable of three percent or just below... throughout next year," in terms of annualized quarter-on-quarter growth. "If economic growth remains on that level, then we're still in good shape," Hino said...

In a separate report, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the ratio of jobs on offer to job seekers rose just 0.01 points from a month earlier to 0.83 in July, meaning there were 83 jobs on offer for every 100 job seekers. It was the highest ratio since March 1993, the ministry said, which economists said showed positions were going unfilled as workers lacked proper skills, especially in high-tech fields...

Other government data showed that spending by Japanese households headed by salaried workers rose a lower-than-expected 2.9 percent in July from a year earlier while deflationary conditions persisted with core consumer prices in the same month down 0.1 percent from June... Economists were wary of putting too much emphasis on spending data that is typically erratic, although the July number was below expectations for a real 5.3 percent increase, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Signs of a global economic slowdown are becoming as repetitive as inventory buildup in the technology sector. Little wonder then that the Japanese stock market appears to have shrugged off the news, the Nikkei 225 rising 80.26 points or 0.7 percent today to close at 11,209.59.