Japan's unemployment rate eased to 4.6 percent in August, down 0.1 percentage point from July, marking its first monthly downturn in three months, the Management and Coordination Agency said Friday.

The Labor Ministry weighed in with more good news the same day, acknowledging some sings of improvement in the nation's job market and releasing a separate report showing a continued rise in the ratio of job offers to job-seekers.

The number of unemployed fell 100,000, or 3.1 percent, from a year earlier to 3.1 million, falling on an annual basis for the fourth straight month, the Management and Coordination Agency said in a preliminary report.