Although the global economy appears to be recovering, things are not easing up in the Asia-Pacific region as the world’s second-largest economy reported the highest unemployment rate since World War II. According to a report released by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the nation’s unemployment rate hit 5.7% in July, a 40.2% jump from the prior year. Additionally, Japan’s average monthly income per household declined by 2.4% in nominal terms., states John Letzing of MarketWatch. The news sent the iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ) down 0.2% in morning trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9%, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and the Nasdaq gave up 0.4% in morning trading.
For more stories on Japan, visit our Japan category.
Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.