Japan Unemployment Lowest in 4 Years

Japan’s unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in March, its lowest level since November 2008, the government said Tuesday, as some companies increased female employment with hopes for economic recovery boosting business confidence.

The figure was in line with expectations by economists at private think tanks that the country’s jobless rate would improve for the first time in two months from 4.3 percent in February.

An official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, however, said the government will watch developments in the labor market as the number of male employed workers decreased in the reporting month.

Separate data showed Japan’s job availability improved, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The ratio of employment offers to seekers climbed to 0.86 in March from 0.85 in February, which means 86 positions were available for every 100 job seekers.

Some analysts said Tuesday’s data suggest Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies aimed at bolstering domestic demand and conquering Japan’s nearly two-decade-long deflation have gradually rippled through the real economy.

via Mainichi

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza