The epidemic puts Japan at risk of losing 3 million jobs
As a result of the novel coronavirus, 3 million 10 thousand workers could lose their jobs in Japan by March next year. A research institute said on Wednesday that the ongoing epidemic could have more devastating effects than the 2008-09 fiscal year. News Kyodo.
The Chubu Region Institute for Social and Economic Research, a Naga-based research institute in central Japan, says that if the worst-case scenario were to take control by the end of the year, 4.5 percent of Japanese workers would lose their jobs.
The financial crisis of 2009, which began with the Lehman Brothers disaster, saw Japan lose 950,000 jobs or 1.5 percent of the country's total workforce.
According to the research firm, the tourism sector, an important driving force of Japan's economy, is unlikely to recover by the end of the current fiscal year.
A maximum of 8 lakh 45 thousand workers will lose their jobs in the retail and wholesale sectors. Besides, 6 lakh 14 thousand and 5 lakh 89 thousand people will lose their jobs in manufacturing, hotel, and restaurant sectors respectively.
Riochi Namba, an economist at the institute, said the manufacturing sector was hit hard by the Lehman Brothers disaster. But this time all sectors have been affected. There is no sector where new jobs are being created. Japan's unemployment rate rose to a one-year high of 2.5 percent in March due to the negative effects of the global epidemic. Analysts fear the employment situation could worsen in the coming months.