TOKYO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Japan's unemployment rate fell in January from a month earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a report on Friday.
According to the ministry, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.4 percent in the recording month, down from 2.5 percent a month earlier.
"Despite the unemployment rate drop, the number of employed people has decreased for two consecutive months, so it can be said that the employment environment has deteriorated," said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Japan's Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
The number of people with jobs came in at 67.61 million in January, the figures showed, down 3 percent and 8 percent from December and November, respectively.
Separately, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said job availability ratio stood at 1.27, unchanged from a month earlier.
The ratio equates to there being 127 available jobs for every 100 people seeking work. ■
