By John Letzing, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Japan issued sobering July economic data on Friday, including a record unemployment rate and the biggest decline in consumer prices in roughly 38 years. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said the country’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in July from 5.4% in the previous month. The unemployment rate was higher than the 5.5% expected by economists, according to Dow Jones Newswires, and is the highest on record since World War II. The number of unemployed people rose 40.2% from July of last year to 3.59 million, the government said. Meanwhile Japan’s average monthly income per household fell 2.4% in nominal terms in July, while consumption expenditures fell 4.5% nominally and was down 2.0% in inflation-adjusted terms. The grim numbers came just ahead of Sunday’s general election, largely expected to result in a change of government. …
Japan reports record unemployment rate for July
