TOKYO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Japan's unemployment rate dropped in August from a month earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a report on Friday.

According to the ministry, the unemployment rate stood at 2.4 percent in the recording month, dropping from 2.5 percent a month earlier.

The unemployment rate is hovering near the lowest levels since the 1990s, the ministry said.

Separately, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the job availability ratio stood at 1.63, unchanged from a month earlier and remaining at the highest level since January 1974.

The ratio equates to there being 163 available jobs for every 100 people seeking work.

The figures highlight the ongoing labor crunch Japan is experiencing as the workforce is rapidly being hollowed out by Japan's increasingly aging and shrinking population.