Japan's March jobless rate rose to its highest in a year, while job availability slipped to a more than three-year low, official data showed on Tuesday, as the coronavirus outbreak and containment measures caused the nation's job market to ease.

While Japan's comparatively low jobless rate is the envy of many nations, rises in the politically sensitive figure could lead to calls for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to do more to stimulate the economy.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.5%, its highest level since March last year, internal affairs ministry data showed, and matching economists' 2.5% median forecast.

The unemployment rate stood at 2.2% in December, the lowest since 1992.
The jobs-to-applicants ratio fell to 1.39 in March, the lowest since September 2016 and below the median forecast of 1.40, health ministry figures showed.

"The employment situation is expected to worsen further in April, so I think it's still the start of a deterioration," said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute.

"There is no doubt that the number of unemployed people is rising," he said. "I think there will be a sharp reduction in job offers in April."
While conditions in Japan's labour market aren't as severe as in the United States, unemployment in the country could rise to 4% in the months ahead, Takeda said.

"A temporary increase (in unemployment) can't be avoided, I think," he said.

The steep drop-off in the jobs-to-applicants ratio also reflected a change in the survey method from January, a health ministry official told

Reuters.