Japan: unemployment at 2.4% in September, understanding the 30 October figures

Ces variations annuelles ne sont pas la comparaison mensuelle du taux citée plus haut.

Normally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.

Selon l’enquête du Bureau des statistiques, le taux de chômage de septembre atteint 2,4 %, après correction des variations saisonnières.

Selon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.

Le Bureau des statistiques a publié le 30 octobre l’enquête de septembre.

It reports past events, as in “announced” or “explained”. A / ont is the auxiliary avoir and the next word is the past participle. The passé composé alone does not tell you the date of the event.

Les chômeurs sont 1,69 million, soit 150 000 de moins.

Est is third-person singular and sont third-person plural of être. They express “is / are” — a state or description. If a past participle follows, it is a different structure such as the passive, so check the words that follow.

Passer de 2,5 % à 2,4 % correspond à une baisse de 0,1 point.

De…à… shows the start and end, “from … to …”, and is also used for changes in figures. With dates, de + le becomes du and à + le becomes au, giving forms like du 13 au 15. Check whether the interval concerns dates, times or amounts.

Ce résultat publié le 30 octobre décrit septembre, pas octobre.

Le 15 octobre means “on 15 October”. Distinguish the le before a date from the le that marks a weekly habit like a weekday. Du is de + le and au is à + le, so decide the meaning from the verb and period expressions around them. Their role depends on the group: a range of dates, the date of a bulletin or another complement.

総務省統計局の労働力調査によると、9月の完全失業率は季節調整値で2.4％でした。

As in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.

日本のすべての住民に占める割合ではありません。

They negate a noun and similar content. “ではありません” is the polite form and “ではない” the plain form. “成立ではありません” shows that it cannot be said to have been concluded.

統計上は、仕事をしていないだけでなく、働くことができ、実際に仕事を探していることなどが条件です。

“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.

前月から0.1ポイント下がりました。

In “発表しました”, ました makes a verb polite past. The negative is “ませんでした”. Read the actual date together with the date and time in the text.

統計上は、仕事をしていないだけでなく、働くことができ、実際に仕事を探していることなどが条件です。

“〜すること” treats an action or content like a noun. The particle after it (が・を・は…) shows its role in the sentence. “ことができる” is a fixed combination meaning “can”.

季節調整は、毎年の季節による変動を取り除いて、月ごとの動きを見やすくする方法です。

The て-form links actions in a series, in order or as a reason. In “確認して、出発する” the relation is judged from the content. In “〜ている” it can show an action in progress or a continuing state.