Japan's cabinet approves labor reforms

Under the annual economic policy blueprint, the government wants to see 300,000 new jobs created over the next three years for people in their mid-30s and mid-40s who have had difficulties finding stable employment since the end of Japan's economic boom in the early 1990s.

The government hopes to help around 1 million people who graduated from high school and university between 1993 and 2004. The government also believes the new policy will encourage older employees to continue working full-time.