Japan's January jobless rate rises to 2.7%

Japan's unemployment rate in January rose to 2.7 per cent from 2.6 per ent in the previous month, climbing for the first time in five months, government data showed Tuesday.

The number of people with jobs edged down 0.4 per cent to a seasonally adjusted 68.17 million, dropping for the first time in five months, while those without jobs rose 3.2 per cent to 1.91 million, marking a second straight month of increase, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

The job availability ratio edged down 0.02 point from December to 1.18, meaning there were 118 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, marking the first decline in three months.

WAM