Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in January from 4.4 percent in December, when it registered a 0.1 percentage point decline, the government said Friday.

The number of jobless people was 2.92 million in the reporting month, down 40,000, or 1.4 percent, from the previous year for the second straight monthly fall, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said in a preliminary report.

In its basic assessment of the employment situation, the government said, "Although conditions have been improving, it is necessary to watch future developments carefully" because the unemployment rate increased in January.