Japan's jobless rate stood at its lowest level since October 2008 in July and the availability of jobs hit the highest level in more than five years, government data showed, in an encouraging signal for its efforts to revitalize the economy, Reuters said.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in June, compared with economists' median forecast of 3.9 percent, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 0.94 from 0.92 the month before, slightly ahead of the median forecast of 0.93, separate data from the labor ministry showed on Friday. The reading was the highest since May 2008 when it was at 0.95.

The number of new job offers rose 0.2 percent in July from the previous month.