Japan's jobless rate falls to 3.7 per cent, lowest since 2007

Number of new job offers up 10.9 per cent from last year

TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan's jobless rate fell to a six-year low in December and the availability of jobs improved to a six-year high, government data showed, suggesting that a tightening labour market could help the Bank of Japan meet its inflation target.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.7 per cent from November's four per cent, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed on Friday. That compared with economists' median forecast of 3.9 per cent.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 1.03 from 1.00 in November, exceeding the median forecast of 1.01 in a Reuters poll.

That marked the highest since September 2007, when the ratio also stood at 1.03.

The number of new job offers rose 2.8 per cent in December from the previous month and was up 10.9 per cent from the previous year.

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