Japan's unemployment rate held steady at 2.6% in October 2025, consistent with the preceding two months, but slightly surpassing market forecasts of 2.5%. This rate marks the highest since July 2024, with the number of unemployed individuals increasing by 40,000, reaching a nearly four-year peak of 1.85 million. Concurrently, employment witnessed an increase of 120,000, reaching an unprecedented high of 68.46 million, while the labor force grew by 160,000, totaling 70.30 million. The pool of people outside the labor force declined by 150,000 to 39.31 million. Simultaneously, the jobs-to-applicants ratio dipped to 1.18, the lowest since January 2022, down from 1.20 in September.