The outlook for graduating college students rose Friday as a government survey said about 75.0 percent of this year's expected graduates had received job offers as of Dec. 1, up 3.1 points from the previous year.

But given the dismal progress in the job-placement rate since employment plunged in 2000, the labor ministry plans to increase coordination between job-placement offices and universities to help more students land jobs.

According to the labor ministry survey, an estimated 106,000 students have yet to receive an offer.

Although recruitment picked up after tanking in 2008 amid the global financial crisis, the latest poll can't signal a full-scale recovery because of the uncertain outlook for the economy.

The labor ministry and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry polled 62 four-year universities, public and private, and 20 two-year junior colleges nationwide to investigate job conditions for graduating students seeking employment.

The results showed 74.5 percent of male seniors had received job offers, up 1.4 points, versus 75.6 percent of female seniors, up 5.1 points.

The figure for junior college students climbed 11.4 points but still remained at 59.3 percent.

In the three prefectures hit hardest by the March 2011 disasters, high school students all saw a significant rise in job offers as reconstruction efforts kicked in, rising 10.6 points to 81.6 percent in Miyagi, 8.1 points to 81.4 percent in Fukushima, and 4.9 points to 85.0 percent in Iwate.