Other promising steps in the prefecture include an expansion of the number of annual departure and arrival slots as well as the introduction of low-cost air carrier service at Narita International Airport, which should boost exchanges with other regions. I trust that Chiba Prefecture will develop even further through people’s efforts to maximize the diverse strengths of their region.
Even with the opening of some slack in the manufacturing sector and in homebuilding, labor markets generally seem to have stayed fairly tight, with the unemployment rate at only 4-1/2 percent. Although recent data indicate that labor costs were not rising as rapidly in 2006 as first estimated, labor compensation does appear to have increased more quickly over 2006 than over 2005.