Abstract
For the years 1989 to 1992, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) previous findings are confirmed that the overall unemployment rate in Japan, as measured by the regular monthly survey, is only slightly changed when adjusted to US concepts of unemployment and is well below the US unemployment rate. Analyses of Japanese unemployment are facilitated by the results of a special labor force survey conducted each February in Japan. The special surveys investigate in detail the labor force status of Japan's population, providing analysts with a tool for better understanding the results of the regular monthly surveys, and allowing them to calculate broader measures of labor underutilization. The report also presents some revisions to the previously published data for 1988 and earlier years. These revisions are the result of a change in the way BLS interprets Japanese statistics on working part time for economic reasons, as well as the use of a new method of allocating the labor force according to full-time and part-time workers.