The employment situation brightened in November as the jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage point from the previous month to 4.5 percent, recovering to a level last seen almost six years ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Tuesday.

The ratio of job offers to job seekers in November, announced the same day by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, also rose 0.04 point to 0.92, meaning there were 92 offers for every 100 job seekers. The ratio climbed above 0.9 for the first time in almost 12 years.

Labor ministry officials said the employment situation continued to improve in November, although it remained harsh, citing signs of economic slowdown such as waning business confidence as a ``worrying factor.''

The number of unemployed declined in November for the 18th consecutive month to 2.9 million, down 400,000 from a year ago. The figure sank below the 3 million mark for the first time in three years and 11 months.

As for those who left their jobs in November, 760,000 did so due to reasons attributable to employers, such as corporate restructuring. The figure was down 180,000 from a year ago.

The November jobless rate for men was 4.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, while the rate for women dropped 0.2 percentage point to 4.3 percent.

Improvement was particularly noteworthy for men aged 15 to 24. The figure for the age bracket fell 0.4 percentage point to 9.2 percent in November, after sinking below 10 percent for the first time in 22 months in October.

Labor ministry officials said the environment for job seekers is improving as offers continue to increase.(IHT/Asahi: December 29,2004)