Japan jobless rate posts first rise for 3 months

Japan''s unemployment rate climbed to 4.5 per cent in October, the first rise in three months, and lifting it off the previous month''s three-year low of 4.1 per cent, the government said Tuesday. The jobless rate for men rose to 4.8 per cent from 4.4 per cent in September and for women to 4 per cent from 3.6 per cent, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported. Year-on-year, the number of unemployed individuals was down 460,000 to 2.88 million, the ministry said. The overall number of job holders declined by 220,000 from a year earlier to 62.64 million for the fourth decrease in as many months. Medical and social services added 230,000 positions to reach 6.99 million, and the education industry saw an increase of 140,000, for a total of 3.02 million, the ministry said. The manufacturing sector saw a decrease of 210,000 jobs to employ 10.36 million people, and catering and hotel businesses lost 130,000 to 3.77 million, the ministry said. From March to August, the figures had excluded Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, due to the difficulty in compiling data in the disaster zone. But the September report started to include data from the region, the ministry said. In a separate report, the ratio of jobs available to job seekers was flat in October from a month before, at 67 jobs to every 100 candidates, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said. (QNA) M A R/LY