Japan’s unemployment rate improved to 4.4% in May amid a gradual recovery from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters of a year ago.

Japan’s industrial production rose for the third straight month in June as the world’s third biggest economy stages a recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Japan’s industrial production rose in November for the first time in six months, easing worries that the country’s recovery might veer off track.

New data about Japan’s economy today offered a sobering reminder of the country’s fragile recovery: the jobless rate rose, deflation deepened, and industrial production fell unexpectedly.