Japan jobless rate rises in August

Tokyo -- Japan's jobless rate for August showed the first month-to-month increase in 11 months to 3.8 percent, up 0.2 percent from July, the government said Friday.

But the Finance Ministry expressed no concern, saying the hike resulted from more women looking for jobs in an improving economy, Kyodo news service reported. The market had expected the rate to come in at 3.6 percent.

One official was quoted as saying the overall employment situation is improving and that the government sees no significant change in the trend.

Kyodo reported that economists remain optimistic about the future.

''The unemployment rate is likely to be on the course of moderate decline toward around 3.5 percent by the end of fiscal 2007," Takuji Aida, chief economist at Barclays Capital Japan, told Kyodo.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.