The jobless rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.
That was well above forecasts for an increase of 2.5 percent and up from 2.6 percent in February.
The jobs-to-applicant ratio came in at 1.32, missing expectations for 1.34, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.
The participation rate was 62.6 percent, beating forecasts for 62.4 percent and up from 62.1 percent a month earlier.
