Japan's economic gloom has political fall-out

The Tokyo stock exchange has fallen to its lowest level for more than fifteen years, amid growing concern about the Japanese economy and the stability of the government.

The Nikkei index has now lost almost seven and a half percent of its value since last Friday.

At the same time, the government announced that unemployment reached a record high of almost five percent in January.

The opposition says it will submit a motion of no-confidence in the Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, on Monday.

The BBC Tokyo correspondent says the economy is taking a turn for the worse just as the government's political problems come to a head.

He says the biggest threat to Mr Mori is from within his own governing coalition, because his popularity with voters is so low.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service