Japan's unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percent to 4.1 percent in March from 4.3 percent in February, said Japan's internal affairs ministry Tuesday in a preliminary report.

The ministry attributed the improvement to increased hiring of female workers by some companies.

Meanwhile, Japan's labor ministry said in a separate data that the country's job availability also improved, adding the ratio of employment offers to seekers increased to 0.86 in March from 0.85 in February.

The unemployment rate for the fiscal 2012 that ended March 31 was down to 4.3 percent from the previous year's 4.5 percent.

The internal affairs ministry also released the latest data on household spending which rose a price-adjusted 5.2 percent in March from a year earlier to 316,166 yen, showing a robust private consumption. Endite

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