Japan's unemployment problem

Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was 5.1 percent, down from 5.3 percent in September, according to government figures released Friday. That translates to 3.44 million unemployed people in October -- but still an increase of 890 ,000 , or 34.9 percent, above what it was in October 2008 , Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on its Web site. Prices for consumer goods excluding fresh food were down 2.2 percent in October from what they had been a year prior, it said.