February - jobless rate unchanged at 4.9%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent in February, unchanged from the previous month.

However, overall jobless ranks rose by 250,000 from a year earlier to 3.24 million, the 16th straight monthly expansion.

Of the total, 1.10 million people lost their jobs involuntarily due to the decisions of their employers, up 160,000 from a year before.

The jobless rate, the lowest level since March 2009 when it stood at 4.8 percent.

Some economists are hoping the worst may also be over on the employment front, but a possible slowdown in industrial production in the coming months could create a drag on the recovery.

A report released Tuesday says industrial output in February weakened for the first time in a year, falling a larger than expected seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent from the previous month.

"Signs of a slowdown in output by automakers and high-tech makers, which have played a major role in pulling Japan out of a serious recession, in the April-June quarter is a source of concern to the job market's near future," said Jun Tsukasa, chief economist at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.

In February, jobholders fell by 800,000 to 61.85 million, marking the 25th straight month of decline, with the manufacturing industry continuing to see big job losses despite a recent pickup in exports.

Employment in manufacturing fell by 540,000 from the previous year to 10.49 million. However, the latest shrinkage was smaller than the 750,000 job losses in both January and December.

In contrast, the medical and social welfare services sector saw a sharp rise in the number of jobholders, up 420,000 to 6.59 million. The rise is the largest since July 2004, according to the ministry.

The jobless rate for men was 5.2 percent, unchanged from January, and that for women fell 0.2 point to 4.4 percent.

Tsukasa said the improvement in the women's unemployment rate is apparently connected to a rise in the number of part-time job offers made to young and elderly women in the retail and social welfare industries.

The ratio of job offers to job seekers was at a seasonally adjusted 0.47, up from 0.46 in January, the labor ministry said. This means there were 47 jobs available for every 100 job seekers.

The ratio, which improved for the second straight month, was the best reading since last April.

The number of job offers jumped 1.5 percent from the previous month and that of job seekers fell 1.9 percent, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

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