Capital investment of Japanese companies declined unexpectedly in the fourth quarter and the jobless rate remained unchanged in January, official data revealed Tuesday.

Investment in plant and machinery dropped 0.2 percent, in contrast to the sharp 8.1 percent increase in the third quarter, the Ministry of Finance reported.

Investment declined for the first time in nearly four years. Investment was expected to advance 4.9 percent.

Investment by manufacturers climbed 0.8 percent, while investment by non-manufacturing firms declined 0.8 percent.

Capital spending figures will be used to revise GDP data. The Cabinet Office is scheduled to issue the second preliminary estimate for the fourth quarter GDP data on March 11.

The initial estimate showed that the economy expanded 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter after rising 1.7 percent in the preceding quarter.

Another data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that the jobless rate remained unchanged at 2.5 percent in January. The rate was seen at 2.4 percent.

The number of employed persons rose 650,000 from the last year to 67.79 million. This was the 30th consecutive month of increase.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio moved up to 1.26 in January from 1.25 in December.

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