[00:00.10]Unemployment in Japan rose to 5.7% in July,
[00:05.54]the highest figure since the Second World War.
[00:08.07]The rise came as companies laid off workers because of the world recession.
[00:12.05]The new figures come early days before the general election in Japan.
[00:16.01]Our correspondent Roland Buerk reports from Tokyo.
[00:19.04]The state of Japan’s economy is the key issue in the election campaign.
[00:23.94]So news that the unemployment rate has risen to the 5.7% is a blow for the Prime Minister Taro Aso.
[00:30.76]Opinion poll shows his liberal democratic party was already on course for defeat on Sunday for only the second time in more than 50 years.
[00:39.08]3,590,000 Japanese were out of work in July,
[00:44.25]over a million more than a year ago.
[00:46.61]Japan’s crushing recession is officially over
[00:49.64]but the benefits are yet to be felt by families and workers

Unemployment in Japan rose to 5.7% in July,
the highest figure since the Second World War.
The rise came as companies laid off workers because of the world recession.
The new figures come early days before the general election in Japan.
Our correspondent Roland Buerk reports from Tokyo.
The state of Japan’s economy is the key issue in the election campaign.
So news that the unemployment rate has risen to the 5.7% is a blow for the Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Opinion poll shows his liberal democratic party was already on course for defeat on Sunday for only the second time in more than 50 years.
3,590,000 Japanese were out of work in July,
over a million more than a year ago.
Japan’s crushing recession is officially over
but the benefits are yet to be felt by families and workers