Japan's economic recovery is generating job growth "like a pressure cooker letting off steam", according to a report published yesterday.

Hiring activity in Japan's peak second-quarter season is expected to be vigorous, notably in the financial and insurance sectors, says the latest global outlook from Manpower, the employment-services group.

The survey evidence will feed into the debate over Japan's economic recovery, with bond markets pricing in an early rise in interest rates following last week's signal from the Bank of Japan that it was ending five years of ultra-loose economic policy.

Manpower's survey of hiring trends in 24 countries shows Japan to have the most robust pipeline in the global economy. The country's net employment outlook - the percentage of employers anticipating an increase, less the percentage expecting a decrease - climbed to 43 in the second quarter, compared with 35 a year earlier. "Japan really has its sea legs," said Jeff Joerres, Manpower's chairman and chief executive. He said job growth was breaking through the cautious hiring pattern displayed by employers in recent months. "They just can't hold it down any more. It is something of a pressure cooker letting off steam environment," he added.

The regular quarterly outlook predicts positive net hiring in 23 of the 24 countries surveyed - Italy is the exception - with Japan and Germany generating the most optimistic outlooks since the exercise was launched in 2003. Chinese employers said they would reduce hiring activity compared with the same time last year. The seasonally adjusted net employment outlook for the US rose marginally to 21 from 20 in the prior quarter, with a ninth consecutive quarter of "healthy hiring".

Mr Joerres said the outlook for most euro-zone economies reflected the improvement in export businesses since the euro started its depreciation against the dollar. - (Financial Times service)