Japan jobless rate lowest since 1993

Japan's economy is showing signs of recovery - Photo: AFP

Figures released by the government showed unemployment stoof at 2.7 percent last month while jobs-to-applicants ratio improved slightly, up 0.01 percent from the previous month to 1.56 in November - the highest level in almost 44 years.

The latest data come as Japan has notched up seven straight quarters of economic growth - the longest positive run for 16 years - with the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games giving the economy a shot in the arm.

Confidence among Japan's biggest manufacturers is also at an 11-year high, a key central bank survey showed earlier this month, as the world's number-three economy picks up pace.

However, consumer spending has remained weak and deflation continues to stalk the economy.

Japan has battled deflation for many years and the central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy appears to be having limited impact.

Other data showed that Japan's consumer prices rose for the 11th straight month in November, but inflation was still far from the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) two percent inflation target seen as crucial to revive the world's third-largest economy.

Market consensus was a 0.8 percent rise, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

When the volatile prices for fresh food and energy were stripped out, prices rose by even less - 0.3 percent, the ministry said.

November household spending - seen as key for exiting deflation - expanded 1.7 percent from the same month a year earlier - much stronger than market consensus of a 0.5 percent rise.

Household spending had remained flat in October after falling by 0.3 percent in September and rising by 0.6 percent in August.

A patchy picture of spending reflects a slow pace of rise in wages and seasonal reasons, analysts say.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has pressed the country's major companies to raise their employees' salaries in an annual wage negotiations, often dubbed as the "government-made labour offensive".

Japan's weak inflation stands in sharp contrast to other major economies whose central bankers are looking to wind up their easing policies.

The US Federal Reserve last week announced a widely expected quarter point rate hike, and US policymakers have forecast another three rate hikes in 2018.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has announced it would halve its massive bond purchases from January as the eurozone recovery gathers pace, allowing the Frankfurt institution to begin winding down its crisis-era stimulus measures.