Japan’s Jobless Rate Hits Record High

Japan’s unemployment rate climbed to a record 5.4% in October as the deepening downturn eroded jobs and fears loomed that proposed economic reforms might push the figure even higher.

The October jobless rate was the highest since the government began keeping track in the 1950s. In September, the jobless rate hit 5.3%. Two months earlier, it reached 5%, then the record.

As many as 1.5 million people may lose their jobs in the next five years and the unemployment rate could rise close to 7%, said Susumu Takahashi, chief economist at the Japan Research Institute in Tokyo.

Japan, once known for its life-time employment system, had long enjoyed lower unemployment rates than other industrialized countries, but more people have lost jobs in recent years as firms adopt aggressive restructuring plans.