Mar 03 (NHK) - The Japanese government says the unemployment rate for January stood at a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent. That's down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, and is the lowest since April 1993.
More than 65 million people had jobs, up 920,000 from a year earlier. Employment has been expanding for more than 5 years.
The ratio of job offers to seekers in January remained as high as the previous month, at 1.59. That means 159 positions were available for every 100 people looking for work.
Officials say that manufacturing industry is leading the way, with strong production of automobiles, chips and smartphones. They predict that the demand for labor at these companies will continue to grow.
