as people have been adapting to covid - 19, the economies have picked up, supported by the large - scale fiscal and monetary policy measures. in the u. s., where vaccinations have progressed and economic activity restarted ahead of other countries, it took only about a year for the economy to recover to the pre - pandemic level. economic expansion see the shibusawa eiichi memorial foundation website ( https : / / www. shibusawa. or. jp / english / ). has spread from the manufacturing sector to services, and the u. s. economy's high growth has been supporting the recovery in the global economy. on the back of this recovery, japan's economy has picked up, led by exports and the manufacturing sector. the recovery in the face - to - face services sector has been slower than in the u. s., partly due to the spread of the delta variant before the widespread vaccinations ( chart 2 ). that said, japan's fullyvaccinated rate has risen to the same level as that of the u. s. if japan can simultaneously protect public health and improve consumption activities through the use of vaccination certificates, for example, the economic recovery trend is very likely to become more pronounced, even in the services sector, also supported by the materialization of pent - up demand. the u. s. and japanese economies have followed a similar recovery path during the pandemic, albeit at slightly different paces. however, labor market dynamics have differed greatly between the two ( chart 3 ). in the u. s., reflecting a sharp drop in economic activity due to lockdowns, job cuts and layoffs spiked. as a result, the unemployment rate, which had been at around 3. 5 percent before the pandemic, surged to 14. 8 percent in april last year. although the employment situation subsequently turned positive as economic activity resumed, employment is slow to recover compared with gdp, and the unemployment rate is still above 5 percent. in contrast, in japan, the rise in the unemployment rate has been modest relative to the decline in economic activity. although the rate has increased from the pre - pandemic level of around 2. 5 percent, it remains low at around 3 percent. these different developments in the labor markets come from differences in employment practices of the two countries. in the u. s., employment adjustments are fast and firms therefore tend to promptly conduct

october 6, 2021 bank of japan hopes for the japanese and u. s. business communities : economic recovery from the covid - 19 crisis and efforts to address climate change speech at the 58th japan - u. s. business conference ( via webcast ) kuroda haruhiko governor of the bank of japan introduction it is an honor to have the opportunity today to address the representatives of the business communities at the japan - u. s. business conference, which started 60 years ago. for the first time in about 20 years, japan is renewing its banknotes. the person chosen for the portrait on the new 10, 000 - yen note is shibusawa eiichi, an entrepreneur known as the " father of modern japanese capitalism. " shibusawa was passionate about private exchanges between japan and the u. s. and in 1909 led a group of about 50 entrepreneurs on a visit to the u. s. they met with then president william taft, thomas edison - - the " king of inventors " - - and other prominent figures in various fields, and realized that the u. s. economy enjoyed remarkably high growth. 1 shibusawa's business mission to the u. s. was the starting point for a series of exchanges between the business communities of the two countries ; such exchanges continue to this day, including through this business conference, and have contributed considerably to the development of both economies. it is encouraging to see you all continuing to have a dialog even during the covid - 19 pandemic. today, i would first like to share my views on the characteristics of the u. s. and japanese economies, which come to light when comparing responses of the two to the same shock - the pandemic. i will then talk about my hopes for the japanese and u. s. business communities in addressing climate change, which is one of the important common challenges for the coming decades, while outlining the bank's recent policy actions to address this issue. i. the u. s. and japanese economies since the outbreak of covid - 19 the u. s. and japanese economies both have faced the shock of the pandemic, which is larger than anything experienced in the postwar era ( chart 1 ). economic activities of both countries declined sharply across the board in the first half of 2020, and real gdp for the april - june quarter contracted significantly by almost 10 percent from the pre - pandemic level in 2019. however,