RTTNews reports that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that the total value of retail sales in Japan was down 1.5 percent on year in February, coming in at 11.628 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 2.8 percent following the 2.4 percent drop in the previous month. On a monthly basis, retail sales jumped 1.4 percent after dropping 1.7 percent in January.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that the unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent in February. That was unchanged from the January reading and was below forecasts for 3.0 percent.

The participation rate was 61.9 percent in February - exceeding expectations for 61.8 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month's number.