Japan on Friday unveiled an emergency programme to create 100,000 jobs by March next year in an attempt to ease the worsening social effects of high unemployment.

In its first policy initiative since taking the reins of government last month, the administration of Yukio Hatoyama, prime minister, said it would act quickly to help those most in need of support to find jobs and to stimulate job creation in sectors where there was still a strong demand for workers, such as healthcare and forestry.