Japan's jobless rate drops to 2.3 pct in February, labor crunch continues

TOKYO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan's unemployment rate dropped in February from a month earlier, the government said in a report on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate was 2.3 percent in February, compared to 2.5 percent in the previous month.

Separate data also showed Friday that the availability of jobs was flat in the recording month.

The job availability ratio remained flat from a month earlier at 1.63 in February, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.

This translates to there being 163 job openings for every 100 people seeking work.

The figure reflects Japan's ongoing labor crunch which is being perpetuated by a population that is rapidly aging and simultaneously shrinking.

Japan's demographic crisis, as far as the labor market is concerned, means that there are increasingly less numbers of working-age people as the crisis is hollowing out the nation's primary workforce.