The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 4.7 percent in March -- a further indication of Japan's burgeoning economic recovery, the government said Friday.
"We have started to see bright signs," said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, commenting on the jobless rate's first dip under 5 percent since December. "I intend to make it lower."
For fiscal 2003, which ended March 31, the unemployment rate averaged 5.1 percent, down from a record high of 5.4 percent the previous year and marking a first yearly decline since fiscal 1990, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said in a preliminary report.