Japan jobless rate continues to rise

The unemployment rate in Japan has, for the fourth successive month, hit a record high, and there are few signs that it will fall again in the near future.

Japan's army of unemployed is mounting

The November jobless rate, at 5.5%, was the highest since records began in the 1950s, up from 5.4% in October and 5.3% in September.

Output in Japan has fallen to its lowest level for 14 years and thousands of manufacturing and construction jobs have vanished during Japan's more than three recessions in 10 years.

End of an era

That spells the end of a central icon of Japan's postwar economic miracle: the jobs for life principle.

In former years, many men - gender equality in the workplace is still a dream in much of corporate Japan - would join a corporation fresh out of college, staying until retirement in their mid-50s.

Pay rises came largely with seniority.

So as belts are tightened, it is these men, between the ages of 45 and 55, who are bearing the brunt of layoffs, and who have little hope of finding another job.

According to the public management ministry, the number of 45-54-year-old men without jobs was up 130,000 year on year to a record 440,000.

And the number of unemployed heads of households rose 180,000 to 1.01m.

Export panacea off the cards

Traditionally, Japan has managed to pull out of recession by relying on exports.

This time, that is proving difficult after the aftermaths of the 11 September attacks have caused further weakness to an already ailing world economy.

Even a slump in the value of the Japanese currency versus the US dollar is not expected to bring any immediate relief for the country's growing army of unemployed.

Traditional industries hit

Unemployment is particularly painful for men formerly employed in traditional industrial jobs and performing the roles of the traditional breadwinners of their families, the government said.

The yen is historically weak against the US dollar

Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, described the country's economic problems as "very serious" and vowed to inject more state money into the country's banks in order to prevent a complete financial meltdown, Japanese newspapers reported.

The only good news to emerge in Japan was a feeble deflation slowdown, from October's 0.8% to 0.1% in November.

In addition, consumer spending rose 3.6% in November from a year earlier, up from a yearly rise in October of 1.6%.

This should help bolster the country's economy.