(For more stories on the Japanese economy, click [ID:nECONJP])
TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) - Japan's jobless rate held steady in March and the availability of jobs improved slightly, but the outlook is murky due to last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear crisis and disrupted production and supply chains.
The jobs data excluded three prefectures -- Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima -- that were hit hardest by the quake and tsunami on March 11.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 4.6 percent, unchanged from February, compared with economists' median forecast of a 4.8 percent rise, figures from the Internal Affairs ministry showed on Thursday.
The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 0.63 from 0.62 in February, exceeding the median forecast of 0.61. That was the highest ratio since 0.64 in January 2009
New job offers grew 10.5 percent from a year ago, up 13 months in a row but much slower than a 22.9 percent annual rise in February. Compared with the previous month, new job offers fell a seasonally adjusted 7.1 percent, the biggest decline since a 10.6 percent fall in February 2009. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Edmund Klamann)