Japan's jobless rate edges down as job availability hits best

The Japanese government said Friday that the country's unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage point to 3.5 percent in February from the previous month's 3.6 percent.

The government also said in a separate survey that Japan's job availability hit its best level in almost 23 years.

The ratio of employment offers to seekers rose to 1.15 in February, marking the first uptrend in two months, from 1.14 in January. Endi