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- Unemployment rate was the lowest in February 2017 in 22 years (2.8%)
- Although more people have jobs now, people are still unwilling to splurge as their expenditure is also increasing
- the number of job availabilities is the highest in January 2017 since July 1991
- ratio of job availability exceeds the number of applicants - 143:100
-there is a significant labor shortage in the medical and nursing care sectors
-This may be caused by the positive growth in exports and production, hence there are more workers in these sectors.
- the problem on unemployment is more significant with  women rather than men
- to reduce overtime, labor reform and  wage growth are both key factors
- household income rose by 0.7% but consumers are more willing to save tan spend
- consumers cut spending on food items, clothes, transportation an communications and entertainment
- expenditure on housing and education increased

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Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.8 percent in February, the lowest in more than 22 years, offering a positive sign for the country's economy, government data showed Friday.

Consumers, however, remained reluctant to loosen their purse strings, as household spending, a key indicator of private consumption, slipped 3.8 percent in the month from a year earlier to ¥260,644 ($2,300), the internal affairs ministry said.

The February jobless rate fell slightly from 3.0 percent in January.

The country's job availability, or the ratio of job offers to seekers, remained unchanged from January at 1.43, the best level since July 1991, according to labor ministry data. It means that 143 positions were available for every 100 applicants.

The employment figures come as the economy continues to recover moderately while domestic demand remains lackluster. The government has been encouraging companies to boost wages and spur consumer spending.

The jobs market remains tight, with labor shortages prevalent in the nonmanufacturing sector such as medical and nursing care. The last time the employment rate stood at 2.8 percent was June 1994.

"The number of jobless people has been falling drastically, while there are more employed people, meaning that many have successfully landed jobs," a ministry official said. "The labor market situation has been steadily improving."

The number of unemployed declined a seasonally adjusted 4.0 percent, dropping by 80,000 to 1.90 million, while the total 64.83 million workers nationwide reflect a decrease of 0.3 percent.

Joblessness for men fell 0.1 point to 3.0 percent and remained unchanged for women at 2.7 percent, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

Compared with a year ago, construction, information and technology, wholesale and retail sectors added more jobs, while the health care and nursing care sector reported a decline.

"As exports and production have been recovering recently, this may have filtered into the labor market by increasing the number of workers," said Miyuki Kiso, market economist at Mizuho Securities Co.

But Kiso struck a cautious note as domestic demand remains weak, pointing to risks for the export-reliant economy, including Britain's negotiations to exit the European Union and unpredictable U.S. economic policies with President Donald Trump at the helm.

Labor reform and wage growth are both key to bolstering the world's third-largest economy, in the view of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, which has worked to curtail excessive overtime and ensure equitable treatment for regular and nonregular workers.

Household income rose 0.7 percent in February from a year earlier to ¥484,038, marking the fourth straight monthly gain.

Sluggish consumer spending has been a headache for policymakers, who are still trying to figure out why consumers are more willing to save than spend.

The 12th straight monthly drop in household spending came as February had one less day than a year ago due to the leap year and saw unfavorable weather conditions that apparently hurt consumer sentiment.

Consumers cut spending on food items, clothes, transportation and communications, and entertainment. Expenditure on housing and education increased.

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Japan's unemployment rate falls to 22-year low of 2.8% in February | The Japan Times

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Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.8 percent in February, the lowest in more than 22 years, offering a positive sign for the country's economy, government data showed Friday. Consumers, however, remained reluctant to loosen their purse strings, as household spending, a key indicator of private consumption, slipped 3.8 percent in the month from a year earlier to ¥260,644 ($2,300), the internal affairs ministry said.

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Japan's core consumer prices have risen for the first time in over a year thanks to a pickup in energy costs, marking a rare victory in the government's long battle against deflation.

But a slump in household spending showed by 1.2% compared with January last year showed why economic growth and inflation have lagged the more ambitious goals set out by policymakers.

As rising protectionism in the United States poses risks for the world's third-largest economy, as well as the rest of export-reliant Asia, there is a danger companies will shy away from boosting wages seen as crucial for durable growth.

That will also undermine the Bank of Japan's efforts to accelerate inflation to its still-distant 2 percent target, analysts say.

Government data showed on Friday that the core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 0.1% in January from a year ago, posting the first increase since December 2015.

It compared with a median market forecast for a flat growth and followed a 0.2% drop in December.

Many analysts expect core consumer prices to head toward 1% later this year helped by the strengthening US dollar pushing the yen lower. A fall in the currency will make imports more expensive for Japanese consumers, which will boost prices.

"Inflation will accelerate this year due to a rebound in energy costs and the weak-yen effect. But it won't heighten much next year unless wages spike and boost spending," said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"The hurdle for hitting 2% inflation remains very high, which means the BOJ will maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy for the time being," he said.

Slow wage growth is weighing on consumer spending - which accounts for more than a half of Japan's GDP - despite a tight jobs market.

Unemployment has been at its lowest level in around 20 years. Fresh data on Friday showed the jobless rate edged down from 3.1% in December to 3% in January.

This week, Japan posted an unexpected drop in factory output for January, the first fall in six months and the latest red flag for the world's number three economy.

Japan has been struggling to reverse a years-long deflationary spiral of falling prices and lacklustre growth.

"The government is teaming up with the Bank of Japan to keep working toward getting out of deflation," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters Friday.

Tokyo's years-long effort to kickstart growth - a blend of massive monetary easing, government spending and red-tape slashing - stoked a stock market rally, weakened the yen and fattened corporate profits, but growth in the wider economy remains fragile.

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Inflation returns to Japan for the first time in more than a year

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Japan's core consumer prices have risen for the first time in over a year thanks to a pickup in energy costs, marking a rare victory in the government's long battle against deflation. But a slump in household spending showed by 1.2% compared with January last year showed why economic growth and inflation have lagged the more ambitious goals set out by policymakers.

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Japan's economy expanded at a slightly slower than expected 1.0 percent annual pace in 2016, helped by an uptick in exports, the Cabinet Office reported Monday.

The world's third-largest economy grew 0.2 percent in the last quarter, from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data, the slowest pace for the year. Quarterly growth peaked at 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and slowed from that rate.

The October-December result was the fourth straight quarterly expansion in inflation-adjusted gross domestic product.

"External demand was strong as expected, providing evidence that it drove economic growth again in the October-December quarter," said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays Securities Japan Ltd.

"We expect the effects of (the government's) extra spending measure (for fiscal 2016) will emerge and continue to support the economy over the first half of fiscal 2017," Nagai added.

Increased shipments to the United States and China lifted Japan's overall exports by 2.6 percent, while imports rose 1.3 percent, marking the first gain in five quarters, the Cabinet Office said.

The strength in exports underscores just how important it is for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to ease trade tensions with the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Data for 2016 as a whole show that overseas demand now accounts for about half of the expansion in gross domestic product, leaving the economy particularly exposed to any new trade barriers from the U.S., which is Japan's biggest export market after China.

"A risk for Japan's economy is that too much dependence on exports could trigger criticism from the U.S., which is paying so much attention to trade between the two nations," said Takashi Shiono, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. "Abe may have to show that the government is also trying to shore up the economy by implementing even more fiscal policy."

The prime minister's two-day visit to the U.S., which showcased a growing rapport between Abe and Trump, may have staved off a protectionist backlash for now. Having chided Japan for its trade and currency policies on the campaign trail and since he took office last month, Trump agreed over the weekend to further economic dialogue between the two nations through Vice President Mike Pence.

"This is really an export-driven recovery we're talking about," Izumi Devalier, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, said on Bloomberg television. "Private consumption has been pretty weak still, and unless we get private consumption fired up, it's hard to see growth accelerating very strongly from here."

Japan had the second-largest trade surplus with the U.S. after China last year, with the bulk coming from auto exports. Trump called this "unfair" when he withdrew the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The yen's weakening against the dollar since the U.S. presidential election in November is believed to have served as a plus for many Japanese exporters as a soft yen boosts their overseas profits when repatriated.

Meanwhile, the Japanese economy has soft spots as domestic demand remained weak despite years of efforts to boost it.

Consumer spending, the biggest component in GDP that accounts for roughly 60 percent of the economy, was almost flat in October-December. It marked the first fall in four quarters, down 0.01 percent from the last quarter, largely hurt by rising vegetable prices.

Sluggish private consumption has been a headache for Abe since the country's sales tax hike in 2014. The prime minister has been calling on companies to hike wages to set in motion a wage growth cycle and the increased consumer spending that it would stimulate.

Following the release of the GDP data, economic and fiscal policy minister Nobuteru Ishihara said Japan's economy has been on a recovery path as labor market and income conditions improve and the trend is likely to continue.

"That said, we need to keep in mind that there are uncertainties over overseas economies and the impact of fluctuations in financial and capital markets," Ishihara said.

Public investment fell 1.8 percent, while housing investment was up 0.2 percent last quarter.

In nominal terms, unadjusted for price changes, the economy expanded an annualized 1.2 percent quarter on quarter.

The Japanese economy grew 1.2 percent in 2015. But slower growth in China sapped demand for machinery and other inputs for much of 2016. A modest recovery in the region's biggest economy helped lift exports late in the year.

Abe has sought to rekindle growth through lavish monetary easing meant to foster inflation and stimulate demand. But manufacturers have been slow to invest or raise wages, and the consumer demand that drives most business activity has remained tepid.

Japan's current account surplus, a wide measure of the country's trade and investment flows, hit a nine-year high in 2016, up 25 percent from a year earlier. That partly reflects the growing share of economic activity based overseas, where many Japanese companies are investing to tap into higher growth than they can find at home.

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Japan's economy grew 1.0% in 2016 despite slower last quarter | The Japan Times

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Japan's economy expanded at a slightly slower than expected 1.0 percent annual pace in 2016, helped by an uptick in exports, the Cabinet Office reported Monday. The world's third-largest economy grew 0.2 percent in the last quarter, from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data, the slowest pace for the year.