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Strategies & Market Trends : JAPAN-Nikkei-Time to go back up? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fut_trade who wrote (1746)	3/6/1999 1:19:00 AM
From: chirodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

Asia-Pacific March 6 1999 JAPAN: 770,000 jobs to be created By Alexandra Nusbaum in Tokyo The Japanese government yesterday announced a plan to create 770,000 jobs over two years, in an attempt to address the country's highest unemployment level since the war. Government measures may be needed to jump-start the economy, but there is criticism that structural changes supporting the development of small businesses would prove more effective than this type of social engineering. "The plan is nonsense. The government is willing to sacrifice growth by supporting employment," said Chris Calderwood, chief economist at Jardine Fleming Securities. Unemployment reached a record high of 4.4 per cent with 2.98m people out of work in January, according to government figures released last week. And concerns over future job security have been blamed for the country's sluggish domestic demand. "This is a pipe-dream," said Peter Morgan, economist at HSBC Securities. "You cannot boost employment directly with make-work jobs. You need to increase the social safety net so people are less worried about their jobs." The government plan would create 400,000 jobs in housing, 180,000 jobs in the information and technology from growth in internet-related businesses, 100,000 jobs in health and welfare and 90,000 jobs tourism, primarily from deregulation of air transportation. "The wrong people are suffering. Young workers with no skills and older employees with no appetite for risk have been losing their jobs. But it is the middle-aged managers with experience and a redundancy cheque who could start their own companies," said Mr Calderwood. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Japan's domestic wholesale price index hit a 19-year low last month, underscoring the magnitude of the country's worst deflation since the war. However, the depreciating yen counterbalanced sluggish domestic demand and relieved pressure on overall wholesale prices. Domestic wholesale prices have been nudging down since last year, but exchange rate volatility has caused fluctuation in overall wholesale prices, said Richard Jerram, chief economist at ING Baring Securities. The wholesale price index stood at 96.2 against the base of 100 in 1995, the lowest since July 1979, when it was 95.5.