The unemployment rate in May inched up to 5.2 percent, worsening for the third straight month, reflecting companies' reluctance to add to payrolls due to uncertain economic prospects amid Europe's sovereign debt woes, government data showed Tuesday.

But preliminary readings by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry also indicated that the number of job cuts stemming from corporate restructuring and business failures has dropped in the past two months.

Job availability also improved in May, as the ratio of job offers to job seekers climbed to 0.50 from 0.48 in April, according to a report by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. That means 50 jobs were available for every 100 job seekers.