Ruling and opposition lawmakers on Thursday criticized the labor ministry for releasing faulty jobs data for more than a decade in the first Diet discussions held on the issue since the scandal broke in December.

Labor minister Takumi Nemoto apologized for the debacle, which led to more than 20 million people being underpaid on work-related benefits and cast doubt on the accuracy of government statistics.

"I deeply apologize to the people for the inconvenience," he told an out-of-session meeting of the House of Representatives labor committee.