Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent in May, the lowest level in 45 months and down from the 4.7 percent logged in April, the government said Tuesday.

The number of jobless people totaled 3.19 million in the reporting month, down 560,000 from a year earlier, the largest margin of improvement ever, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said in a preliminary report.

The unemployment rate was lower than the average private-sector projection of 4.7 percent, marking the 12th straight month of year-on-year decline.

The jobless rate for men was 4.7 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from the previous month, but that for women improved 0.1 point to 4.4 percent, the ministry said.

The number of jobholders increased 290,000 to 63.89 million, up for the sixth straight month, it said.

In a separate report, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the ratio of job offers to job seekers came to a seasonally adjusted 0.80 in May, up 0.03 point from April.

The figure means there were 80 jobs available for every 100 job seekers during the month.

The number of job offers fell 0.3 percent from April and that of job seekers fell 3.1 percent, the ministry said.

The number of new job offers increased 5.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Source: Kyodo