TOKYO -- The active job openings-to-applicants ratio in Japan for April was 1.48 (seasonally-adjusted), hitting its highest level since February 1974, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday. March's figure was 1.45.
The latest data underscores the country's labor shortage amid the ageing of society and the declining population. April's ratio exceeds figures in the early 1990s, when Japan was experiencing the bubble economy.