Japan's 2.5% unemployment mystery: why economists can't stop staring

Japan's unemployment rate just pulled off something most economists consider impossible: staying perfectly flat at 2.5% for four straight months while the rest of the world's job markets are having what we might politely call "a moment."

While Europe's job vacancy rates are dropping faster than a day trader's confidence after a margin call, Japan's labor market is sitting there like that one friend who never seems stressed during finals week. The unemployment figures, released July 31st, show 1.72 million people still looking for work - a three-month low that would make other developed natio...