A record-low 52.2 percent of female high school students hoping to work after graduation in March had found a job as of the end of October, according to the results of an Education Ministry survey released Monday.

According to the poll, which the ministry began in 1976, this year's figure for female students is 0.1 percent less than the record set the previous year.

For male students, the figure improved by 1.5 percent to 59.9 percent.

The total figure for high school students as a whole came to 55.5 percent, up 0.8 percent from the same period last year.

Some 116,000 students have yet to find a job, roughly 5,000 less than last year, according to the survey.

"Corporate activity is picking up, and the decline in the percentage of those (students) finding jobs seems to have begun hitting bottom," ministry officials said.

The survey was conducted on about 266,000 high school students nationwide who plan to work after graduation.

By prefecture, Okinawa had the lowest figure, 19.8 percent; followed by Hokkaido, 30.8 percent; Miyagi, 37.6 percent; and Fukuoka and Aomori prefectures tied at 38.4 percent.

In contrast, students in Gifu Prefecture appeared most successful at finding work, with 78.3 percent reporting secured jobs. It was followed by Mie Prefecture with 77.2 percent and Toyama with 75.6 percent.