The unemployment rate hovered at a near-record 5.4 percent in March, as joblessness among the young peaked at its highest levels in half a century, the government said Friday.

Data from the Labor Force Statistics Office show the unemployment rate for people aged between 15 and 24 hit 13.2 percent last month, the highest since the government began tracking data in 1953.

Michio Matsumura, a ministry official, said fed-up youngsters apparently left their jobs at the close of the fiscal year, although fears about a tight job market had previously forced many to cling to unattractive jobs. Japan's fiscal year ends March 31.