Japan's jobless rate unchanged in June


Japan's jobless rate was unchanged last month at 5.4 percent

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan's June unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent seasonally adjusted, the government said Tuesday.

That is just below the postwar record rate of 5.5 percent seen in December last year.

The statistics come a day after other figures showed industrial output in the world's second largest economy fell last month, for the first time in five months(Full Story).

Output dipped 0.7 percent in June from the previous month as exports lost some of their momentum.

The administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi maintains that the economy is slowly recovering after falling into recession last year.

It has cited this year's strong pickup in exports as evidence of a recovery, but recent weakness in U.S. demand and the turmoil in global equity markets have put this under a cloud.

Fear of contraction


Japan's government said Tuesday the number of unemployed people stands at 3.68 million

Japan's economy grew 1.4 percent in the March quarter for an annualized rate of 5.7 percent, but some economists worry that the June quarter GDP figures may show a contraction(Full Story).

There is also concern that the recent strength of the yen against the U.S. dollar could hurt some exporters, who base their business forecasts on a dollar rate of about 125 yen.

The yen is trading slightly weaker at 119.60 in Asia Tuesday. Its recent high was 115.42 on July 16.

The jobless figures released Tuesday morning showed no change from May.

Matthew Poggi of Lehman Brothers Japan told CNN that there were some "positive signs" in the latest figures, including the return of people to the labor force.

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said the number of unemployed rose for the 15th straight month to 3.68 million, while the number of employed fell for the 15th month to 63.73 million.

The unemployment rate for the June quarter on an unadjusted basis was 5.5 percent, up from 5.4 percent in the March quarter.

Reuters news agency reported that data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed the June seasonally adjusted jobs-to-applicants ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 0.53, meaning there were 53 openings for every 100 job seekers.

Reuters contributed to this report.