The figure, the third record high in a row, is the worst since the government began compiling employment statistics using the current method in 1953.

The total of unemployed, at a record 2.9m, shot up by 26% from the number out of work in April last year.

"It's a very severe situation," said an agency official. "Especially for older people and those just graduating from school, the severity is increasing."

The agency official said it was hard to predict whether the rises would continue or the rate would quickly flatten out.

The Japanese Labour Ministry said there were just 55 jobs for every 100 people looking in April, down from 58 jobs in March, and the fewest since June 1978.

Employment fell in the hard-hit manufacturing and construction industries, although services -- now the largest single sector -- as well as wholesale, retail and restaurants saw modest improvements.

Particularly hard-hit were young people just trying to enter the job market and those at the end of their careers.

Among males aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate climbed 2.1% to 9.1%, while for females it rose to 8.1%.

For men aged 60 to 64, unemployment rose 4.2 points to 12.1%.

The figure was higher than expected after the rate reached 3.9% in March. Japanese unemployment is now very similar to that in the USA where April's jobless rate stood at 4.3%.