Japan's unemployment rate drops to 3 pct in July

Japan's unemployment rate dropped to 3 percent in July marking the lowest level in 21 years, as the national employment landscape is improving, the government said on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate on a seasonally adjusted basis was 3 percent in July, with the the number of employed persons in the recording month totaling 64.79 million, an increase of 980,000 or 1.5 percent from the previous year.

The number of unemployed persons in July, meanwhile, was 2.03 million, the ministry said, which is a decrease of 190,000 or 8.6 percent from the previous year.

The job availability in Japan held steady in July at 1.37, which means that there were 137 positions available for every 100 people looking for work.

For women, the unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage point to 2.7 percent and for men it was unchanged in July at 3.2 percent.

This option to leave their jobs of their own volition came in at a seasonally adjusted 870,000 in the recording month, said the ministry.

Separately, the ministry's data also showed that household spending in Japan fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.5 percent in July from a year earlier to 278,067 yen (2,728 U.S. dollars).

The ministry maintained its basic assessment from the previous month of household spending, stating that it remained weak.

This data set is a key gauge of private consumption in Japan. Endit