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By SHINO YUASA, Associated Press Writer55 minutes ago TOKYO - Japan's economy showed new signs of deterioration Friday, with the country's unemployment rate rising and consumers tightening their purse strings amid soaring food and oil prices, the government said.The jobless rate in April rose to 4.0 percent, up from 3.8 percent in March, the highest level since last September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said."Amid a slump in the economy, conditions of employment are not improving," said Keiji Kanda, an economist at think tank Daiwa Institute of Research. "The number of employees in the manufacturing sector is declining as companies are reluctant to hire people."Japan's household spending in April dropped 2.7 percent from a year earlier, the government said. That was far worse than a 0.9 percent decline expected by economists."The data showed people were cutting back overall expenses to cope with rising food and energy prices. Food and energy are so vital, and a hike in those prices is directly affecting household spending," Kanda said.Rising energy and food prices were major factors lifting Japan's core consumer price index, which rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the government said. That was down from 1.2 percent in March the highest rate in a decade.Oil prices soared 28.5 percent in April from a year ago and bread prices jumped 10.8 percent.Another key indicator, Japan's industrial output, declined 0.3 percent from the previous month due to a slump in demand for passenger cars and mobile phones, the government said."The decline reflected uncertainty over the state of the global economy as well as sluggish demand at home," Kanda said. "In particular, demand for high-tech goods remained stagnant such as liquid display TVs."Industrial shipments in April increased 0.7 percent from March, while industrial inventories fell 0.9 percent, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.But Economy Minister Hiroko Ota was upbeat on the latest showing of consumer prices, saying the country was making progress in its effort to combat deflation."The new ... data showed we're making progress in our effort to exit deflation," she said at a press conference. "Whether we can declare the end of deflation depends on whether this rising price trend will lead to a rise in wages.""The data showed people were cutting back overall expenses to cope with rising food and energy prices. Food and energy are so vital, and a hike in those prices is directly affecting household spending," Kanda said.The total number of jobless in April stood at 2.75 million, up by 70,000 from a year ago, marking the first rise in 29 months. Among industries, the number of workers in the construction sector dropped by 490,000 in April, with that in the retail sector declined by 110,000.