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TOKYO - JAPAN'S unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent in December, unchanged from 3.8 per cent the previous month, official data showed on Tuesday.
The total number of jobless fell by 130,000 from a year earlier to 2.31 million in December, the 25th consecutive monthly fall, the internal affairs ministry said.
The latest jobless rate was slightly better than the 3.9 per cent economists had expected on average, shored up by stepped up employment in the wholesale/retail sector, transport, medical/welfare and farming industries.
The unemployment rate was just above a trough of 3.6 per cent in July, which was the lowest since February 1998.
But a separate report from the labour ministry showed there were more job seekers than job offers for a second straight month in December.
There were only 98 jobs available for every 100 job seekers in December, compared with 99 job openings in November, the labour ministry data showed. -- AFP
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