No. of `freeter` nonregular workers rises 1st time in 6 years+

TOKYO, April 10 Kyodo -
The number of so-called freeters, or young workers with nonregular and unstable
jobs, was 1.78 million in 2009, up 80,000 from 2008, posting the first
year-to-year increase in six years, according to officials of the Internal
Affairs and Communications Ministry.
An official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry attributed the increase
to a difficult employment situation amid a lingering economic slump and said
the number of freeters could continue to rise this year.
About 20 percent of prospective high school and university graduates seeking
employment had not located jobs as of the end of January, the labor ministry
said.
An increase of freeters is considered a problem, as young workers in the
category usually find it difficult to obtain job skills and switch to regular
jobs, as their work as freeters is largely unskilled.
They also find it hard to improve their lives due to low wages.
The internal affairs ministry defines part-time workers aged from 15 to 34,
excluding students and married women, as freeters.
The number of male freeters was 810,000, up 50,000 from the previous year, and
that of female freeters was 970,000, up 30,000, according to the internal
affairs ministry.
The internal affairs ministry has recorded statistics of freeters since 2002,
after the number began increasing as companies pared back regular workers
following the collapse of the asset-inflated bubble economy.
The number peaked at 2.17 million in 2003 and had since declined gradually as
the economy improved, to 1.87 million in 2006 and 1.7 million in 2008.
==Kyodo