New government data shows that job seekers are deemed to be having a tougher time landing a job this year compared to last year.
 
According to a survey released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the responding companies said they would hire 308-thousand people in the second or third quarter of this year. It was down by five-thousand, or one-point-five percent, from the same period last year.
 
The ministry surveyed 32-thousand companies with five regularly hired workers or more.
 
By industry, manufacturers planned to hire the most number of workers between the April and September period this year at 95-thousand, followed by the transportation industry at 33-thousand, the wholesale and retail industry at 27-thousand and the health and welfare services industry at 25-thousand.