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TOKYO: Japan's unemployment rate fell to 5.1 per cent in October from 5.3 per cent in September, improving for a third consecutive month, the government said Friday.
The latest rate beat the average market forecast of a 5.4 per cent rise.
The jobless rate for men dropped to 5.3 per cent from 5.6 per cent in September and for women edged down to 4.8 per cent from 4.9 per cent, the internal affairs ministry said.
Another survey released by the labour ministry Friday showed there were 44 job offers for every 100 jobseekers in October, slightly up from 43 in the previous month.
Many Japanese companies, particularly exporters, moved swiftly to cut jobs and production in response to a slump in demand caused by the global economic downturn, which triggered Japan's worst post-war recession.
But Japan's economy grew in April-June for the first time in five quarters on rebounding exports and government stimulus measures.
The economy expanded 1.2 per cent in July-September from the previous quarter, or 4.8 per cent on an annualised basis, chalking up the best growth in more than two years.
Renewed deflation however is seen as a threat to the recovery.
The internal affairs ministry said in a separate survey Friday that the nation's core consumer prices fell 2.2 per cent in October from a year earlier for the eighth straight month of drops.
- AFP/yb
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