(2) A further expansion in employment is becoming increasingly difficult since unemployed workers have largely disappeared except for those caused by mismatches. (3) Additional labor hours generated by newly employed workers have been declining since many women and elderly people who are willing to work often prefer short-time working hours.
(4) Current employment growth includes many non-regular workers whose wage growth remains limited, while there is a declining trend in employment growth among regular workers in manufacturing, whose productivity growth and thus wage growth have exceeded other sectors. Finally, (5) it is not yet confirmed whether households’ expectations regarding future income will follow a rising trend.