The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That was well above expectations for 2.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading.
The jobs-to-applicant ratio was 1.34, also missing forecasts for 1.36 and down from 1.35 in the previous month.
The participation rate was 62.1 percent, down from 62.2 percent a month earlier.
