The property subindex fell 4 percent, the biggest drop among the subindices
Japan's unemployment rate stays at 3.8 pct in January
Japan's unemployment rate was unchanged at 3. 8 percent in January from the previous month, in line with market expectations, as the medical/welfare sector, as well as transportation and the wholesale and retail sectors hired more workers, government data showed Friday.
Economists had expected the jobless rate to come in at 3.8 percent in January, according to the median estimate of Thomson/IFR Markets.
The male jobless rate rose to 3.9 percent last month from 3.8 percent in December, while the female unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
The unemployment rate fell to a low of 3.6 percent last July, the lowest level since February 1998.
The number of those employed rose by an unadjusted 430,000 to 63.21 million in January, the third straight monthly increase, led by a rebound in the number of self-employed and those working in family-run businesses.
The medical/welfare service sector added 260,000 new jobs last month, while the transportation service sector added 130,000 jobs. The wholesale/retail sector added 10,000 jobs.
On the other hand, those employed in the manufacturing sector fell 280, 000 to 11.41 million, the fifth fall in six months due to growing concerns about profitability at companies due to higher procurement cost.
In the construction sector, the number of employed fell 70,000 as housing starts continued to shrink following the implementation of tighter building rules since June last year.
Non-farm payrolls increased 0.5 percent to 54.31 million, rising for the 37th straight month.
The number of full-time workers rose 1.5 percent to 46.99 million, increasing for the 35th straight month.
Lay-offs fell 40,000 to 590,000 in January, the ninth fall in the past 10 months. The reading is also nowhere near the peak of 1.2 million in September 2002, when companies underwent massive restructuring and job cuts.
The number of workers that voluntarily quit their jobs to seek better offers elsewhere rose by 10,000 to 1.03 million.
The number of unemployed was 2.56 million on an unadjusted basis, 80,000 fewer than a year earlier.
The report showed that smaller companies remained reluctant to hire because higher procurement costs have been threatening to squeeze profit margins.
The number of people employed by non-farm companies with payrolls of fewer than 30 workers dropped 130,000 to 16.39 million, while the number of those employed by non-farm companies with payrolls of between 30 and 499 fell 170,000 or 0.9 percent to 18.60 million.
Separately, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said that for every individual seeking work there were 0.98 job openings in January, unchanged from December, because of declines in job offers in the construction, services and manufacturing sectors. The figure was better than the market consensus forecast of 0.97 openings, according to a survey by the Nikkei daily.
The ratio fell below the boom-and-bust line of 1.0 in November for the first time since November 2005.
Despite the patchy labor market condition, spending by Japanese households rose 3.6 percent in January from a year before, on increased spending on cars and on funeral and wedding services.
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