The reading represented a drop from 4.3 percent in August, even though it was the first time since the disaster that the monthly survey included three prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 disasters. Japan's jobless rate was at 4.6 percent in February before the natural calamities. The government noted the survey had not yet been resumed in some coastal areas devastated by the tsunami, which left some 20,000 people dead or missing. The market expected an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. The internal affairs ministry said the jobless rate for men was at 4.4 percent in September with the rate for women standing lower at 3.6 percent. A separate survey from the labour ministry showed the ratio of jobs to job seekers came to 0.67, meaning there were 67 job offers for 100 job hunters. The figure was up from 0.66 in August as job opportunities rose in the disaster-hit areas for reconstruction demand.