The nation's unemployment rate eased to 5.2 percent in February as more part-time and medical jobs that helped female workers became available and job cuts trailed off in manufacturing.

But the government warned against optimism. The data disclosed Friday by the Labor Force Statistics Office are not a sign that labor conditions are clearly improving, said the office's director, Masato Chino.

The world's second-largest economy has been in a slowdown for years, and in January the unemployment rate matched a record high 5.5 percent, hitting that level for the third time in six months.