Japan's unemployment rate rises to 2.8 pct in December 2017

TOKYO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The unemployment rate in Japan increased in December last year from a month earlier, the government said in a report on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate here increased from 2.7 percent logged a month earlier to 2.8 percent in the recording month.

The ratio of job offers to job seekers stood at 1.59 in December, improving from 1.56 in November, marking the highest level since January 1974, and meaning that 56 positions were available for every 100 workers seeking a job, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.

The unemployment rate in 2017 dropped from 3.1 percent a year earlier to 2.8 percent in the recording year, the government's latest data set also showed.

In addition, household spending, a key gauge of current and future consumer confidence regarding consumption, edged down 0.1 percent from a year ago, the statistics bureau also said.

Private consumption accounts for 60 percent of Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and despite the economy continuing on a moderate recovery path, households have continued to tighten their purse strings amid a murky outlook for income and expenditure.

A planned consumption tax hike is likely to compound the issue and exacerbate households' thriftiness as Japan's "deflationary mindset" becomes increasingly ingrained in households.

Following consumption tax hikes from 3 to 5 percent in 1997 and from 5 to 8 percent in 2014 while consumption spiked before the levies were increased, on both occasions the economy ended up in recession as a result of the hike. Enditem