Looking back on the 2004 labour market, overall, the employment situation showed some signs of improvement while remaining severe. The ratio of active job openings to active job applicants increased, the unemployment rate was high but declining, and the number of employees was basically unchanged.

(1) The ratio of active job openings to active job applicants was on an upward trend, increasing to an annual average of 0.83.

(2) While the number of male employees continued to decrease, the number of female employees continued to rise, resulting in an increase in the total number of employees for the second consecutive year.

(3) The unemployment rate was on a declining trend, although it remained high at an average annual rate of 4.7%.

(4) Unemployed heads of household and long-term unemployment both decreased.

After entering 2005, the unemployment rate was high but declining, and the number of employees was on an upward trend, so the employment situation improved although it remained severe.

## (Trends in Job Openings and Job Seekers)

New job openings have been increasing since the beginning of 2002, led by the manufacturing and service industries and others. New job openings in the construction industry had been weak, but the rate of decline gradually slowed, with the figures finally turning in a positive direction in the middle of 2003 and continuing to improve since then (Figure 1).

New job seekers have fluctuated since the fourth quarter of 2002, but with an overall declining trend. Among those seeking new full-time employment, those who left their previous employment involuntarily have contributed to the decline since the fourth quarter of 2002, indicating an easing of the movement to cut jobs. The corporate sense of excess employment is on a declining trend, dropping during the first quarter of 2005. In addition, the percentage of corporations implementing employment adjustments had been on a declining trend since early 2002, but has been generally unchanged since mid-2004.

## (Trends in the Job Openings Ratio)

The ratio of active job openings to applicants remained on a rising trend, averaging 0.83 in 2004, up 0.19 points from the previous year (0.64). The rate of new job openings to applicants also gradually increased, with a 2004 average of 1.29, up 0.22 points from the previous year (1.07) (Figure 2). In addition, the ratio by employment patterns (first quarter of 2005, seasonally adjusted) was 0.75 for ordinary workers and 1.32 for part-time employees.

## (Trends in Employed Persons and Employees)

The average number of employed persons in 2004 was 63.29 million (up 130,000 from the previous year), the first increase in seven years. The average number of employees in 2004 was 53.55 million (up 200,000 from the previous year), the second consecutive annual increase.

Trends in the number of employees during 2004 can be summarized as follows.

(1) The number of regular female employees began increasing in mid-2003, while the number of male employees has continued to decline. The overall number of regular employees has been experiencing a rising trend since the middle of 2003. Temporary and daily employment had been on a rising trend as well, but it has been declining since the last quarter of 2004 (Figure 3).

(2) Looking at seasonally-adjusted figures by sex, the numbers for women continued to increase, while those for men fluctuated after a slight recovery in the second quarter of 2004.