Japan’s unemployment rate declined to 3.8 per cent in July for the second straight month of decline amid an economic recovery, the government said on Friday.

The jobless rate for women declined to 3.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent in June, while unemployment for men edged up to 4.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

The number of unemployed people dropped by 330,000 from a year earlier to 2.55 million, falling year-on-year for the 38th consecutive month, the ministry said.

Medical and social services added 230,000 jobs to employ a total of 7.41 million, and wholesalers and retailers saw an increase of 120,000 jobs to 10.53 million, while the construction industry eliminated 310,000 positions to 4.72 million, the ministry said.

Analysts said that government figures didn’t reflect Japan’s employment problems as one of the country’s most crucial issues in the past decade has been unstable forms of employment, especially among women and young people.

In 2012, the proportion of temporary and part-time workers in the labour force hit a record high of 35.2 per cent for the third straight year of rise, the government said.

The availability of jobs, measured as a ratio of job offers per job seekers, rose 0.02 points from the previous month to 0.94 in July for the fifth consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said.

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