Applications for welfare jump due to poor labor market amid pandemic

The number of applications for welfare payments in Japan in April jumped by 24.8 percent compared with the same period of last year due to worsening labor market conditions amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, government data showed Wednesday.A total of 21,486 applications were filed, with the highest rate of increase since records became available from April 2013, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare."We believe the number of applications increased sharply because a large number of people struggled to make a living following the government's state of emergency declar…READ FULL ARTICLE