Japan’s jobless rate in November increased slightly to 2.8 per cent compared to the previous month, as people were encouraged to leave their jobs in search of better ones during the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the government said on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage point from the previous month for the first increase in six months, after the Covid-19 state of emergency was lifted in October, during which people were asked to refrain from nonessential outings, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to separate government data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the job availability ratio in November remained unchanged from a month earlier at 1.15, meaning that there were 115 job openings for every 100 job seekers.

The number of unemployed people in November totalled 1.92 million, rising 100,000 from the previous month, up for the first time in three months, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

Among them, 760,000 people voluntarily left their jobs, up 60,000, and 500,000 were new job seekers, up 10,000, while 480,000 were laid off, unchanged from the previous month.

“The increase in the number of unemployed indicates that more people are seeking jobs with better conditions and is considered to be a reflection of the recent lower number of coronavirus cases and (an economic) pickup,” a government official told reporters.

The number of employees in accommodation and food service sector, as well as the wholesale and retail sector hit heavily by the pandemic, continued to decline from the previous year, unadjusted for seasonal factors, but the pace of drop slowed down, indicating improvements in their labour markets, the official said.

The number of workers in hotel and restaurant services declined 190,000 from a year earlier in the reporting month after dropping 440,000 in October, while the number in wholesale and retail saw a year-on-year 120,000 fall following a shrink of 320,000 in October.

Meanwhile, the number of workers in the telecommunications industry, and in transport and postal activities, continued to increase, up 9.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent from the previous year, respectively.

The latest data showed the total number of people in work remained unchanged from a month earlier at a seasonally adjusted 66.24 million.