year low Tokyo , July 29, SPA -- Japan's economic prospects got brighter Friday as the jobless rate fell to a seven-year low and industrial production gained at a healthy pace, news that sent the stock market to a four-and-a-half month high, AP reported The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent in June, its lowest level since July 1998, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. That was better than expected, and a drop from the 4.4 percent logged in May. Hopes are that steady improvements in the job market and resulting income growth will prompt Japanese consumers to spend more, strengthening the nation's nascent economic recovery, so far sustained by exports. «We've been seeing some improvement in wages, and the jobless data would advance this improvement even further,» Akira Maekawa, economist at UBS Securities. Japan's economy has been stagnant for more than a decade, occasionally gaining steam by fits and starts before petering out, failing to maintain consistent growth. In the first quarter, Japan notched its best quarterly growth in a year, expanding at an annual pace of 5.3 percent after contracting over the middle two quarters of 2004. In another bright spot for the economy, the government said industrial output for June rose 1.5 percent as electronic devices and machinery makers boosted production, suggesting that Japan's corporate sector will contribute to growth. That was in line with economists' forecasts. --mor 1500 Local Time 1200 GMT
