Japan's jobless rate falls to 24-year low

NHK -- Dec 27

Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.7 percent in November -- the lowest in 24 years.

The internal affairs ministry says more than 65.5 million people had jobs in November, up by 750,000 from a year earlier. This was the 59th straight monthly increase.

The number of unemployed fell by 190,000 to about 1.8 million, extending the downward streak to 90 months in a row.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 2.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from October.

Ministry officials say the job market in Japan is steadily improving. They say people are able to find work in a broad range of industries, but this has caused labor shortages.

The labor ministry says the ratio of job offers to applicants rose to 1.56 in November, up 0.01 point from the previous month.

That means there were 156 job openings for every 100 people looking for work.

The figure was the second to the highest, which was marked in January of 1974.