Japan jobless rate rises to 4.5 percent

TOKYO: Japan's jobless rate rose in October and the availability of jobs were unchanged, suggesting firms are cautious about hiring due to worries about the impact of the euro zone debt crisis and a strong yen.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent from 4.1 percent in September, compared with economists' median forecast of 4.2 percent, figures from the Internal Affairs ministry showed on Tuesday.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio was flat at 0.67 in October from the previous month and compared with the median forecast of 0.68.

The number of new job offers rose 2.5 percent in October from the previous month and was up 11.8 percent from a year ago.