Shinzo Abe Japanese pop groupREUTERS/Issei KatoJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with members of the Japanese idol group Momoiro Clover Z and other show-business celebrities at a cherry-blossom viewing party at Shinjuku Gyoen park in Tokyo on April 18.
Japanese unemployment just hit a level that most Western states can only dream of.
The unemployment rate, made up of people both out of work and looking, slumped down to 3.1% in October. The rate for men is 3.4%, and the rate for women is 2.7%. That's the lowest in two decades.
UK and US unemployment levels are pretty low by post-crisis standards, but they are still considerably higher than Japan's. In October, the UK's came in at 5.4%, and the US is at 5%.
It's popular to bash Japan's economy, particularly because of its lack of growth — but a significant part of that is down to the fact that Japan has an ageing and shrinking population. On a per-capita basis, people aren't worse off.
Here's how Japan's jobless situation looks over the past 25 years:
Japan unemploymentJapanese Cabinet Office, Mike Bird, Business Insider
A bundle of other data released Friday was bad news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to reflate Japan's economy.
Consumer prices excluding food and energy, or "core" inflation, rose by just 0.7%, the lowest since July and considerably less than the Bank of Japan's 2% target. Japan has been mired in low inflation or deflation for decades, which hasn't helped its significant debt problem.
Overall household spending also came in considerably weaker than expected, slumping 2.4% year-on-year. Analysts had expected a 0.1% boost after a 0.4% decline was recorded in October. The Nikkei, Japan's main index of stocks, fell by 0.30%.

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