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Japan's unemployment rate rises Japan's unemployment rate higher
(about 6 hours later)
Japan's unemployment rate has risen to 4.4% as companies cut jobs to survive the global downturn. Japan's unemployment rate has risen to a three-year high as companies continue to slash jobs.
Exports have nearly halved, throwing the world's second biggest economy into crisis. The jobless rate rose to 4.4% in February, from 4.1% in the previous month, the government said.
The government says consumer spending was down in February by 3.5% compared to a year earlier. Separate data showed that consumer spending last month fell by 3.5% from a year earlier.
The number of unemployed people in Japan in February stood at 2.99 million, up by 330,000 from a year before according to the government. Prime Minister Taro Aso is planning to announce a new package of stimulus spending to try to revive the world's second-biggest economy.
That is a rise to 4.4%, from 4.1% in January. Jobs aim
Major companies are laying off workers as exports have collapsed amid the global downturn. The package, the fourth since last year, may be worth up to 20tn yen ($200bn, £140bn) and include temporarily lowering or scrapping inheritance tax to encourage elderly people to pass on their savings to the young.
Many of those who are still in work are facing reduced hours and pay. The government hopes to spur the creation of two million jobs.
Little wonder then that anxious families in Japan are cutting back. The number of unemployed people in Japan in February stood at 2.99 million, up by 330,000 from a year ago, the government said.
Household spending was down by 3.5% in February compared to the year before. Japan's Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Tuesday that he supported a proposal, put forward by a task force set up by Mr Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to set up a public entity to buy stocks with public funds directly from the market.
Japan's government is planning to announce a new package of stimulus spending to try to pull the country out of its worst economic crisis since World War II. The fund would buy exchange-traded funds, which track the gains and declines in stock indexes.
It is expected to be worth up to 20tn yen (200bn, £140bn). The benchmark Nikkei 225 shares index in Tokyo has dropped 8.5% this year, adding to last year's 42% drop.
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