By BridgeNews
Tokyo--Jan. 30--Japan's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for December stood at 4.84%, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications released Tuesday. The December jobless rate remained in line with the market expectation of 4.8%. The current record high was 4.9% marked in both February and March. The jobless rate has stayed near record high levels, partly because some jobless workers, who had stopped seeking jobs, have returned to the pool of job seekers.
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A official at the ministry suggested that labor conditions have remained mixed, saying that, "the number of workers has been increasing, showing an improvement sign, despite the high unemployment rate and number of jobless workers."
In December, the number of workers increased 130,000 from a year earlier, increasing on year for 3 consecutive months. On the other hand, the number of unemployment rose 100,000 to 2.98 million, increasing for 4 consecutive months, according to the ministry.
Of the 100,000-gain of jobless workers in December, the number of jobless workers, who had stopped seeking jobs and returned to the labor market, increased 90,000 from a year earlier, while the number of involuntary unemployment rose only 20,000, according to the data.
Those figures mentioned above indicated that real labor condition did not necessarily worsen in December from November, although the jobless rate slightly increased from November.
However, the government officials and private economists have said that gaps remain in conditions between job seekers and job offers. Moreover, unadjusted unemployment rate in 2000 stood at 4.7%, unchanged from that in 1999, the ministry also released. The 4.7% was higher compared to 4.0% in the U.S. and 3.8% in the England.