TOKYO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's unemployment rate in March stood at a seasonally adjusted 5.0 percent, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a report on Friday.

The figure for March marked a 0.1 percent increase from a month earlier when the figure stood at 4.9 percent, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report on Friday that the number of jobless people rose in March from a year earlier, climbing by 150,000 people to 3.5 million people .

In a separate report the ratio of job offers to job seekers stood at a seasonally adjusted 0.49 in February, up from 0.47 a month earlier, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reported.

The figures mean that for every 100 eligible people seeking employment there are 49 available jobs to those candidates, and according to the ministry the ratio hasn't been as favorable to job seekers since March 2008.

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