Job offers for students decline

The percentage of university students who received job offers before graduation in March declined for the first time in nine years, according to a survey by the labor and education ministries released Friday.

The corresponding figure for senior high school students also fell for the first time in seven years, a different survey by the labor ministry showed.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology surveyed 6,250 people who graduated in March from universities, junior colleges or vocational schools.

The study found 95.7 percent of university students hoping to land jobs after graduation received job offers before they graduated. The figure was down 1.2 percentage points from the previous year.

The corresponding ratio for senior high school students was 95.6 percent, a decrease of 1.5 percentage points from the preceding year.(IHT/Asahi: May 25,2009)