Japan's unemployment rate, excluding areas hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami last March, dropped to an average of 4.5 percent in 2011 from 5.0 percent the previous year, reflecting the overall economic recovery trend in the country, government data showed on Tuesday.

Job availability also improved last year, but the outlook for the employment market is uncertain with overseas economies slowing and the yen remaining strong against other major currencies.

In December alone, the jobless rate, which includes data on the disaster-hit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, grew to a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent from November's 4.5 percent for the first slide in two months.