(Update) Japan Sept. Jobless Rate Falls to 5.0 Pct

Tokyo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)--Japan's seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate stood at 5.0 pct in September, down 0.1 percentage point
from August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said
Friday.
The jobless rate thus declined for the third straight month,
supported mainly by an increase in the number of workers at manufacturing
companies.
The number of people with jobs increased 140,000 from a year before
to 63.09 million, enjoying growth for the first time in two months.
By sector, the medical and welfare service industry logged a
year-on-year increase of 420,000 people. In the manufacturing sector, the
total payroll increased 50,000, the first gain since April 2008.
The total number of jobless people decreased 230,000 to 3.4
million, down for the fourth straight month.
The jobless rate for women dropped 0.3 point from the previous
month to 4.3 pct, while that for men rose 0.1 point to 5.5 pct.
Separately, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the ratio
of effective job offers to job seekers stood at 0.55 after seasonal
adjustment, up 0.01 point from the previous month for a fifth straight
improvement.
The ratio of new job offers to seekers, a leading indicator of the
employment situation, was up 0.03 point from the previous month to 0.91.
The ratio came back to the 0.9 range for the first time since
January 2009 after hitting its record low of 0.75 in May and August that
year.
The effective job offers-to-seekers ratio for regular employees
rose 0.07 point from a year before to 0.33.
The labor ministry also unveiled data on the users of a government
subsidy program to help firms pay leave allowances to employees.
The number of corporate employees covered by the program decreased
2.1 pct from the previous month to 1,101,007 in September, showing a decline
for the ninth straight month thanks to production recovery at many firms.
The ministry received applications from 67,254 offices and
factories, down 2.5 pct.
The amount of subsidies provided during September stood at 29.2
billion yen, down 13.6 pct from the previous month. For April-September, the
distributed subsidies totaled 200.3 billion yen, down 39.2 pct year on year.
END