- Surpasses Pre-Lehman Shock Levels - Amidst a worsening labor shortage, the effective ratio of job openings to applicants stands at 1.59 times, its highest level since January 1974, 43 years and 11 months ago. The job offer tentative acceptance rate for new graduates also increased to 86.0% (university graduates) as of December 2017, marking the 7th consecutive annual increase and the highest rate recorded since the survey began in 1996. Furthermore, debate has intensified i

The economic diffusion index (DI) in February 2018 was 50.3, down 0.8 points from the previous month, a downturn for the first time in a yea