Japan had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in January, the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from the revised 4.3 percent in December (originally 4.2 percent). The number of unemployed persons in January was 2.73 million, a decrease of 180 thousand or 6.2 percent from the previous year. The number of employed persons was 62.28 million, an increase of 170 thousand or 0.3 percent on year. The participation rate was unchanged at 58.6 percent. (full story)