By SAWA OKABAYASHI/ Staff Writer
July 31, 2020 at 18:15 JST
A line forms at a government-run employment agency in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on April 27. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
People thrown out of work, or who expect to lose their jobs, due to fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic exceeded 40,000 as of July 29, according to a health ministry tally.
The number of people rendered jobless by the health crisis has been rising by 10,000 every four weeks since June, soon after the national state of emergency was lifted. The surge in the jobless rate shows no signs of abating.
The health ministry began collating the jobless data in February, shortly after the outbreak was first reported in China.
As of the end of April, the number of people who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic stood as less than 4,000. But the figure later increased drastically and topped 10,000 on May 21. On June 4, just two weeks later, it exceeded the 20,000 mark.
On July 1, the figure topped 30,000. Since then, the growth pace has remained the same, reaching 40,032 on July 29.
The tally only reflects the numbers that labor bureaus across the nation are able to grasp. The actual number of people who lost jobs is almost certainly much higher.
Of the 39,059 unemployed people whose types of business and location were ascertained as of July 22, the highest number, 6,534, had worked in the accommodation business and 6,534 worked in manufacturing, followed by 5,416 in the restaurant business and 3,869 in retailing.
By prefecture, Tokyo had the highest number at 7,575, followed by Osaka Prefecture with 3,599 and Hokkaido, the northernmost main island, with 1,817.
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