The jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in June, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That missed expectations for 2.5 percent, although it was unchanged from the May reading.
The jobs-to-applicant ratio improved to 1.27 - beating forecasts for 1.25 and up from 1.24 in the previous month.
The participation rate was 63.0 percent - also beating forecasts for 62.9 percent and up from 62.7 a month earlier.
