Japan jobless rate stays at 2.8 percent in October

Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's jobless rate stayed at 2.8 percent in October while the availability of jobs improved to the highest level in nearly 44 years, government data showed on Friday.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from September and matched economists' median forecast, figures from the Internal Affairs ministry showed.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 1.55 - the highest since January 1974 - from 1.52 in September. It beat the median forecast for 1.53.

A full table can be seen on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications at:

http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/roudou/index.htm

(Note: The jobs-to-applicants ratio and new job offers can be seen in Japanese on the labour ministry's website.)

(Reporting by Sumio Ito and Chris Gallagher; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)