## Employment structure showing the trend toward service economy

In line with the further expansion of the service economy, the employment structure is also showing the trend toward the service economy. The ratio of employees who work in the primary and secondary industries tends to decrease.

(Transition of employment composition by industry)

Source: Prepared by the Office of Counselor for Labour Policy, MHLW, based on the “Population Census” (1950~2010) Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and “Labour Force Survey” (2012) Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

(Note) 1) The data of 1995, 2000 and 2005 are the estimate and tabulation based on the extracted details tabulation by the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The data of 1990 and before use different notations and linkage is not possible.

2) The transport in and after 1995 includes the postal activities and the finance, insurance and real estate sectors including goods rental and leasing. The eating and drinking places, accommodations are referred to as the accommodations, eating and drinking services in and after 1995.

3) Up to 1990, the wholesale and retail sector included eating and drinking places.

4) In 2010, the "dispatched workers of labour dispatching undertakings" are classified into the industries of clients; this must be noted when the data of 2010 is compared to the data of other years in which the dispatched workers are classified into "Other services" to which the dispatching undertakings belong.

## (Employment increased in social insurance, social welfare and care services, and decreased in construction, manufacturing and wholesale)

☐ In line with the slowdown of the economic growth rate, the labour demand has been stagnant. The main reason for the slowdown of the economic growth rate after the 1990s was the downturn of capital amount and total factor productivity (TFP); on the other hand, improved quality of labour supported growth. Export is important, as the contribution of external demand to growth is roughly half that of internal demand and is never small.

○ While the employment structure is showing the trend toward the service economy, the number of the employed increased in the industries of social insurance, social welfare and care services, and decreased in the industries of construction, manufacturing, wholesale, etc.

☐ Reduction in public capital formation had a profound effect on the decrease of the number of the employed in the regional blocks including Hokkaido, Tohoku and Shikoku.

☐ The entry rate tended to decrease until 1998 and remained at the same level after that year; the entry rate was higher than the exit rate until 2000, but the gap between the entry rate and the exit rate has been closing in recent years.

☐ After the 1990s, self-employed individuals in the industries other than agriculture, forestry and fishery started to decrease; before that, they were supplying a certain level of employment opportunity.

It is necessary for the whole government to make efforts toward economic growth by improving productivity of the service industries, etc. and by increasing the entry rate, and thereby to create employment; and to promote creation and maintenance of high value-added businesses in strategic fields, etc. and labour mobility without unemployment.