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Japan’s unemployment rate falls to 4.1 percent in July

That’s just above the eight-year low of 4.0 percent reached in May.

July’s jobless rate, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, matched an average forecast of 4.1 percent, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists.

In July, the total number of jobless fell by 210,000 from a year earlier to 2.68 million people, marking the eighth straight monthly decline.

The number of employed rose by 110,000 to 64.21 million people, the ministry said, marking the 15th straight month of increases.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe was quick to attribute the improvement to government policies.

“The unemployment rate has improved as a result of firmly carrying out structural reforms,” Abe said. He added, however, that there are remaining issues, including unemployment among the Japanese youth and regional disparity, that need to be addressed.

In a separate survey, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the ratio of job offers to job seekers, an indicator of demand for labor, rose to 1.09 in July, compared with 1.08 in June. The ratio shows that 109 jobs were being offered for every 100 workers seeking employment in June.

The ratio of new job offers to new job seekers rose to 1.68 from 1.59 a month earlier, indicating there were 168 new jobs for every 100 people newly seeking work.